actor Lydia Mokgokoloshi is taking a break from acting after skyrocketing to fame with Skeem Saam

Veteran on-screen character Lydia Mokgokoloshi is taking a break from acting in the wake of soaring to notoriety with Skeem Saam.

The 80-year-old performer is famous for her depiction of matron Koko Mantsha since the soapie’s initiation in 2011.

The show revealed to Sowetan yesterday that while watchers will see less of her on-screen, Mokgokoloshi is still piece of the show on a common premise.

Last Friday, fans were left thinking about whether they will ever observe her character after she moved away from Turfloop in Limpopo, where the storyline is dominatingly based.

It was clarified in the storyline that Koko was setting off to her home for some genuine feelings of serenity and to invest quality energy with her sibling Josias (Mahuma Rapetsoa).

“She will at present be in and out of the story. She just won’t shoot as much as she used to,” said Skeem Saam representative Sumaya Mogola. “Our shooting plan gets extremely tumultuous on occasion and we would prefer not to destroy her.

“She is at a touchy age so she needs as much rest, care and solace as could be expected under the circumstances.”

Mogola explained that the choice for Mokgokoloshi’s holiday was taken before the Covid-19 pandemic hit South Africa.

“The choice was made before lockdown, so I can’t generally say that Covid-19 is the sole explanation,” Mogola said.

Mokgokoloshi turned into a commonly recognized name as the devilish Mma-Nkosheng in famous 1980s Pedi dramatization Bophelo ke Semphekgo.

Conceived in the little town of Botlokwa in Limpopo, she was a teacher for over 20 years in Soweto.

In her late 40s in 1984 she chose to seek after her acting energy.

In 2017 Mokgokoloshi was presented as a “national fortune” as she got the privileged Lifetime Achievement Award at the esteemed South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas).

She got a similar uncommon respect at Limpopo’s debut Film, Arts, Music and Entertainment (Fame) Awards in 2015.

“Much obliged to you to every single South African. You have cherished me to such an extent. I can’t walk and any place I walk they all need my photograph,” she playfully said in the wake of accepting an overwhelming applause from her industry peers at the Saftas.

“Much obliged to you to [the] Skeem Saam team and every one of the individuals who are playing with me.

“I truly feel regarded to be called granny and I feel so pleased to be a granny, albeit at times I can be so pitiless and harm you with a needle pin.

“In the event that you came into my home without advising, recollect you can be harmed by one way or another.

“I’m so cheerful and respected. I respect the individuals who are composing the contents, dressing us and the creation organizations.”

– TshisaLIVE