AG SHAME, trouble always seems to shadow Cherel de Villiers in Isidingo. And while she has done some pretty dastardly deeds in the past – she hired hitman Slang Bornman, who took out the entire Vorster family instead of merely scaring Gideon, and shot Duncan Haines in cold blood to keep him from outing her to her then future husband Barker Haines – this time she is actually innocent.
Marrying business tycoon Braam le Roux, who fell to his death last Tuesday, might not have been the wisest move in her Machiavel-lian plan to make Barker pay for his role in her daughter Tanya’s suicide.
But what is done is done.
Now she has a huge mess to clean up thanks to her incurring the wrath of Braam’s unforgiving young brood: Benjamin and Sophia. In the meantime, Daniel (Braam’s eldest son) has taken over the business reins.
With the police eyeing her as a suspect, Cherel’s secured the best defence lawyer she can find – Titus Lesenya, played by Vuyo Dabula.
As for bagging the coveted role opposite one of South Africa’s most iconic actresses, Dabula says: “It was quite nerve-racking and yet comfortable at the same time because she (Botes) made me feel at ease. She is very nice and a professional.”
Interestingly, it was one of the writers at Isidingo who nominated the 34-year-old actor for the role after seeing him in Small Town Called Descent, which has yet to release on the big screen.
“I still had to go in for an audition though,” he points out.
Of his character, Dabula enlightens: “Titus is basically a young lawyer who arrives for the Sibeko family (the new developers on The Deep) and he crosses paths with Cheryl, who hires him to represent her. The back story is that he is a powerful lawyer who has won high-profile cases.”
By the way, Dabula is a familiar face in television as well as films. Aside from Yizo Yizo 3 and Zone 14, he landed roles in Finding Lenny, Soldiers of the Rock (his acting debut), Invictus and Small Town Called Descent.
Not wanting to give much away on the development of his character as Titus gets embroiled in a drawn- out court case, Dabula did hint that Barker, still trying to get rid of Cherel, tries to suss out if the hotshot lawyer can be bought.
After his soap stint, Dabula will be pioneering for a pilot TV show he is working on with a producer friend.
“I’m actually going to be pouring myself into this TV show I want produced. I’m still writing the script. After that, well… I’m a Russian roulette kinda guy. I do believe there will always be work,” he maintains.
l Vuyo Dabula debuts on Isidingo on SABC3 at 7.30 tonight.