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DStv’s most popular telenovela, Sibongile & the Dlaminis, was commissioned for a second season, but its leading actress, Luyanda “Lou” Zwane, will not be part of it.
City Press understands that the cast and crew members of the Rhythm World Productions show started filming early this month, and had not replaced Zwane until this week.
Sibongile & the Dlaminis was the most watched show in April, with over 1.4 million views, and just over 1 million views in March.
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City Press can reveal that actress Nsikelelo Mthiyane, who is said to be quite new to the TV industry, will be the new Sibongile, taking over from Zwane.
A source close to the production told City Press that Mthiyane had started shooting this week.
The source said:
Why Zwane left the Duma Ndlovu-produced show remains a mystery, with sources close to the production giving contradicting reasons, while the channel, the production house and Zwane herself have kept mum about the situation.
The Durban-born actress and model started with the telenovela when it premièred in July last year on Mzansi Wethu.
The show, which airs every week from Monday to Wednesday, is similar to the Cinderella story.
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It follows the life of a rural girl, Sibongile, who leaves her village to be a domestic worker in a lavish mansion, where she has a forbidden romance with her employers’ son, who loves and accepts her, despite her lowly background.
Zwane’s role as Sibongile might be ranked as her biggest one last year; however, she was also seen in shows such as Miseducation, Outlaws, Redemption and Shaka Ilembe.Her sympathisers say the production was not a conducive workplace, prompting her to quit.
A source said:
The individual did not provide details about what had made Zwane unhappy.
However, the source added that, according to their knowledge, the actress was not lured away from Sibongile & the Dlaminis by greener pastures.
“Luyanda didn’t leave because of another project. She isn’t shooting anything at the moment. She just couldn’t take that workplace environment anymore.”
The source said:
However, another source close to the production alleged that Zwane had been the cause of her own unhappiness because she had not known how to handle fame.
“That girl was disrespectful; she was just a diva. I don’t want to go into details about it. She was full of herself and she didn’t know how to work with other people,” said the source.
“No one on the set could say anything to her or work with her because she was just [arrogant]. Everyone who works on Sibongile & the Dlaminis can tell you that she wasn’t a pleasure to work with.”
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City Press contacted Rhythm World Productions for comment, but was told that the query had been escalated to MultiChoice, which handles the media.
At the time of going to print, the broadcaster had not replied to questions sent to it.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Zwane were also fruitless as calls did not go through and she did not respond to emails and text messages.
