Stephina Zwane speaks like she looks: friendly and sweetly. She has a regular giggle that comes after every second sentence, making you think you are the funniest person alive. As a matter of fact, she is the kind of happy smiler who’d be a good candidate for a toothpaste advert.
But with those beautiful features comes a bright young woman determined to make it in the media industry.
After leaving Scandal about four years ago, Zwane, whom we then affectionately knew as Lolo, has until now kept a low profile.
“When my character went to stay in Durban I decided to take a back seat in TV and film production. I decided to do a lot of writing and directing after Scandal and that has been going well so far. I’ve directed a short film for Mzansi Magic that has been doing pretty well,” she said.
But the backseat approach did not last long as Dumisa TV came knocking at her door, requesting her to audition for a spot to host a youth show called Bokamoso.
“I liked what the show was going to be about because it empowers young people with information that would otherwise be hard to find. Also, because whenever there is a heated topic on the show, we have elders partaking in the conversation; it bridges the ever-present gap between the young and the old,” she explained.
Bokamoso invites a number of opinionated youngsters to comment on any given topic, from sexual health to politics. An official who is an expert on the subject at hand is invited to shed light on the topic and also defends himself and his beliefs against that of the kids.
“It is always interesting to hear both parties raise points and crush each other. I constantly have to break up fights, even though we haven’t yet quite got to the Jerry Springer level,” Zwane said.
Despite a lot of exciting episodes, so far Zwane has a few favourite episodes that did better than she had expected.
“There were two topics that had the guests riled up and these include Music Role Models where we covered things such as the alleged existence of secret societies like the Illuminati and Scientology. The other topic that had the youngsters emotional was teenage pregnancies and I must say I learnt a lot from them,” she said.
Although she left Scandal, Zwane sometimes revisits the soap when time permits to resuscitate her role as Lolo.
“Lolo comes back to Joburg every now and then to visit her parents. I love acting and when I am not doing it I miss it a lot, so I make sure I do not stay away for too long,” she said.
• Bokamoso airs every Tuesday on Dumisa TV (DStv channel 340) at 4pm.