Airing your dirty laundry in public is par for the course in any soap opera, where scandal and shocking revelations comprise the bulk of the drama.
What you wouldn’t expect is that life starts imitating art behind the scenes of one of these show, and yet that is exactly what has happened on popular local soapie Isidingo.
The key player in this drama is Don Mlangeni-Nawa, who plays Zebedee Matabane on the SABC 3 show. Bra Zeb, as he is more commonly referred to on the soap, was called in for a disciplinary hearing yesterday by production company Endemol. Chief among the issues discussed between the warring parties was Mlangeni-Nawa’s apparent disregard for conduct codes and his alleged lack of discipline.
While one would expect an employment issue as sensitive as this to be kept private, Endemol instead released a statement explaining their actions.
“Mlangeni-Nawa’s lack of discipline and general disrespect for the show, the company, its many great actors and the SABC, saw Endemol take action (both verbally and in writing) against the actor after his repeated transgressions on and off set. “This disciplinary hearing is unfortunate, but necessary,” said Sivan Pillay, Endemol’s Managing Director.
“It is important to note that mutual respect, by and for the entire cast and crew of the show, is something we take very seriously. No one actor or crew member is bigger, or has the right to compromise any part of what makes Isidingo the great show it is today.”
Mlangeni-Nawa has previously been critical of the direction the soap has taken, and reportedly clashed with the production team last year when he refused to endorse a bank linked to the soap. At the time, he said: “It's a personal matter and I don't think it'll help me to take the matter to the media. I'm handling it myself.” - Tonight Reporter