Style: "Dsty Taj blue"

Composed and graceful, Letoya Mangezi has been creating serious waves on Isidingo since joining SABC3’s flagship soap a few months ago.

On making her comeback, Mangezi says: “I was basically ready to get back on screen. And I have been doing corporate work, a short film, returned to Rhythm City and I had a few commercials. I am doing what I love doing.”

During her sabbatical, Mangezi occupied herself with the daily running of her sangoma practice while also raising her three adorable little ones – daughter Nubia, 5, and sons Tadiwa, 3, and Tamuda, who is a few months old – with hubby Privilege.

Her character Ayanda Diale, who was brought up by the influential Sibekos after her mother passed away when she was 15, is quite the enigma. Viewers are au fait with Ayanda’s troubled past, which leads to her becoming reliant on drugs to calm the emotional hurricane within. Sifiso (Jefferson Sibeko’s son) was so infatuated with her as a teenager that he orchestrated the murder of her then boyfriend. And, to this day, she is tortured by those memories – and doesn’t let anyone in easily.

On the layers to Ayanda, Mangezi says, “I think she is a strong girl. She has a very bubbly personality. And she is quite carefree – as long as no one is giving her problems.”

So how come Ayanda agreed to marry Sifiso – a man she fears as much as she despises?

“There is a lot of history between him and her. She has basically been living with the family for many years. She was in love with someone years ago and, because of his (Sifiso’s) obsession with her, he got a few guys to beat up her boyfriend, who ended up dying from his injuries.

“She was shattered and kind of lost it, which explains why she dabbles in drugs. Although she has known for many years that he was behind it, his father covered it up,” the actress shares.

When Sifiso returned to South Africa from America, Ayanda was overwhelmed with emotion and she was justifiably worried.

“She thought, this creep is back and he is probably going to make my life miserable again. She agrees to marry him because she realises it doesn’t matter what she does, she doesn’t have a support system in place.

“Even Nikiwe, who is as close to a sister as she will ever find, hadn’t believed her about Sifiso. She finally realises that the more she fights him, the more people will get hurt,” Mangezi reveals.

But there are already so many people offering to help her get out of the abusive relationship, I argue. And there is Ace Nzimande, clearly eager to play Ayanda’s knight in shining armour, despite his recent run-in with Sifiso.

“She does want to embark on a relationship at some point. But the psychological and emotional abuse that she has suffered has caused blockages. And he also tends to get slightly physical with her,” Mangezi explains.

To play a woman as tortured as Ayanda is difficult. The actress says research is key.

“You have to do it,” she maintains. “It doesn’t help to play an abused woman if you have no idea how to play one. Sometimes I talk to the writers, which helps. There are the directors as well.”

With August being Women’s Month, the actress is hopeful that women “can draw strength” from her character’s predicament.

“The story is still at that scary stage where she hasn’t really stood up for herself. She is still under this man’s evil power. But soon, they will see Ayanda taking her power back – probably not in the best way,” she hints.

Looks like Sifiso, a scumbag of note, will be getting his just deserts… and soon!

l Tune in to Isidingo, on SABC3 at 6.30pm on weekdays for more riveting drama.