WHICH TV femme fatale is the ultimate superbitch in South African soapies? Is it Generations’ Ntsiki Lukhele (Pamela Nomvete), the ambitious schemer and blackmailer supreme who died JR Ewing-style after being shot by a mysterious hit man?
Or is it Isidingo’s Cherel de Villiers (Michelle Botes), the vicious vixen who cold-heartedly shot her stepson, Duncan Haines (Anrich Herbst), hid his body in a mine shaft and went on to marry his father, Barker Haines?
Whichever small screen villainess viewers judge to be ahead of her rivals, there is one undisputable fact – actress Xolile Tshabalala’s on-screen persona belongs to this hall of infamy. When Nomvete’s she-devil character of Ntsiki exited the Generations stage in 2001, it was only logical that the popular drama series’ producers and scriptwriters would scout around for another villainess.
And in Tshabalala they found a perfect replacement who, in the role of the terrible temptress Julia Motene, has captured the collective imagination of Generations fans. Only 25 and with drop-dead gorgeous looks, she grabbed the role with both hands and played it with aplomb and amazing acting ability. When she left the series after three years to take up new challenges, her fans felt cheated.
In 2005, she took a sabbatical from acting to study at the New York Film School in pursuit of her dream of becoming a film producer and director. It was during this time that she landed a guest role on the popular American detective series, NCIS. On her return she appeared in a number of roles.
But they all lacked the glamour, intrigue and anti-heroine sophistication of Julia Motene.
However, Tshabalala is back in another superbitch role. She is playing the part of Gugu Mogale in the second season of High Rollers (SABC3, Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm), a telenovela that is set against the background of a glamorous and unpredictable world of gambling tables and slot machines.
The series was shot on location at Emperors Palace and its first season in 2013 was described as a world where “murder, cheating and deceit were only the beginning”.
And indeed this time around the stakes are higher. Some of the adjectives used to describe Gugu Mogale include ambitious, arrogant, stubborn, strong-willed, snobbish and streetwise – all hallmarks of the ultimate superbitch.
Gugu’s job as a player development executive includes taking care of the casino’s wealthy gamblers’ wants and desires. It’s a job that occasionally causes problems of jealousy with her husband, TT Mogale (Fezile Mpela).
TT is his wife’s opposite – warm, charming and funny – not to mention loyalty to his wife. He wants a child, but his materialistic and selfish wife is interested only in power and influence over TT’s adoptive family, the Kings. Despite his unwavering love for Gugu, she is dead set against giving him an heir – another source of conflict between the couple.
She hates the Kings and believes her husband is being a wimp for allowing the Kings brothers, Paul (Justin Strydom) and David (Anthony Coleman), to have an upper hand in the casino, a family business empire.
But TT is loyal to the Kings and is grateful that the family matriarch, Helena King (Brumilda van Rensburg), has raised him like a son and paid for his education after he lost his parents and when he was was living off his wits as a township gambler.
The real jealous type in this seemingly blissful marital union is Gugu – a tough card with an extremely competitive streak. She believes she is TT’s equal, although he is the Kings Casino’s general manager, majority shareholder and landlord.
Gugu’s possessive nature and ruthless character come to the fore when two orphans arrive at the casino. One of them, Thandi (Thishiwe Ziqubu), is actually TT’s daughter, her instinct tells her. TT is blissfully unaware of this, although he has taken a shine to the unassuming youngster.
Gugu bribes and blackmails the doctor who conducts the paternity test to falsify the report in her favour. The tests come out positive. In one scene, she is holding the real test results and looks pleased with herself as she burns the report, watching gleefully as the flames reduce it to ashes.
She won’t give her husband a child, but she is against him knowing the truth about Thandi. By now she has assaulted Thandi out of frustration because her husband, who has hired her as a cleaner, refuses to fire her. Her jealousy has also driven her to a suicide attempt.
Like Lady Macbeth she is slowly sliding into insanity. Only the storyline will tell if she is the ultimate superbitch.
The Sunday Independent