Forget what you heard. Besides it being the title of an initiative he is currently involved in, this also refers to anything that may have fallen on your ears about actor Zolile Nokwe, better known for his role as the problematic Noah in the local soapie Generations.
If the words "arrogant", "overly confident" and "tough cookie" happen to spring to mind, you may not be far off.
But there is definitely more to this actor-cum-rapper-cum-writer- cum-artist, who has decided to shun the bright lights of South Africa's thriving television industry to take control of his own life.
"I didn't have any difficulties playing my role. It was fun and I was earning money for something I liked doing. It feels right when you get paid for something (you're) been doing," he says.
Sitting at his favourite health food outlet, Crush, in St George's Mall, Nokwe laughs and adds: "It's like you feel that you have not been lying to yourself when you were practising in the mirror."
But Nokwe says he left Generations because at that time it was restricting what he wanted to do.
"I wanted to be able to write and draw and film and make music and do whatever I wanted to do. It became a little of a problem to be expected to be at a certain place.
"I wasn't in charge of my own time."
And while it's been almost three years since Nokwe played Noah and his face is still not forgotten among soapie fanatics, this claim to fame is not the be-all and end-all of Nokwe.
The 24-year-old, who lives in Langa, had been moving back and forth between the Cape and the Highveld but eventually moved to Johannesburg for work purposes.
Although Nokwe was involved in an in-house production for Diskom, he describes Generations as his "big-time hit".
"It was my only hit. I never left because of bad politics on the set. I was one of younger kats there so I was not affected by politics anyway. If there were any politics, maybe I was just too na�ve to be affected."
One month after quitting the soap, Nokwe came back to Cape Town, where he has remained ever since.
Although he says there are a number of reasons for him coming back to town, he settles on: "I think I just felt it was right to come back."
Chatting about his current endeavour, Nokwe glows with passion.
He explains that he is working on a stand-up comedy varsity tour with Pure Monate Show comedian and friend Loyiso Gola.
"It's called Forget What You Heard. It's the first one-man show that he (Gola) has written and once you hear him you won't forget what you heard."
Why?
"Because he is the hottest comedian in the Southern Hemisphere," Nokwe says.
Gola (22) will be coming down to Cape Town to work on the two-day tour to the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University with Nokwe.
It is the first leg of the tour, which they are hoping to extend to the rest of the country.
He describes the venture as something he and Gola have always wanted to do.
"At some point we have to be in charge of how we make money. It's 2006, black people have got to start owning their own s**t.
"It's enough to complain about it. At the end of the day me and him don't have any varsity degrees."
Nokwe attended Zonnebloem Nest High School while he was in Cape Town but matriculated from General Smuts High School in Vereeninging, Johannesburg. He did not study further at a tertiary institution, a decision he says he does not regret.
"For whatever reason my road did not go through varsity."
"It doesn't mean it's not going to happen. What I need to do is self- educate myself.
"A lot of the time, a lot of the information is out there."
- The show is to be held on March 2 and 3 at UWC and Stellenbosch University. Tel: 021-694-2230.