Actress Zikhona Sodlaka (Mandisa) speaks out after leaving The Wife

Ex-The Wife actress Zikhona Sodlaka had an emotional exit from the show, leaving a mark on not only her former cast members but the millions of The Wife viewers. She had an emotional exit and as the book had initially planned, she took her own life.

Viewers felt Mandisa’s pain in the last 3 episodes of The Showmax original series. She had lost her husband Nqoba Zulu, played by Abdul Khoza, and had accidentally shot her own Son Ndumiso.

The Zulu Brothers all seemed against Mandisa which drove her over the edge.

Sodlaka spoke about her exit to Zimoja saying the ride was fun.

“I’m not even sure where to begin, but perhaps, let me start from the beginning, From the very inception and creation of the books by Dudu-Busani Dube.

“The Wife was already set up to win because the books are incredible and everybody who fell in love with them from their creation knew that they would love the screen version,” she told the publication.

Zikhona spoke fondly of her former cast members.

”We laughed, cried, brainstormed, fought, and committed. So thank you. Thank you to the cast – Mbalenhle Mavimbela, Khanyi Mbau, and the new additions to this season.”

What stands out though is the way in which Mandisa’s character spanned three seasons in the book, whereas she commits suicide in the first book. She told the publication that the reception Mandisa got from viewers, prompted them to keep her character on for a bit longer.

“I had taken the role knowing that this is the character that dies in the first season. This is something that we knew from the word go as she also kills herself, even in the book. But because viewers loved her so much we had to keep her and in deciding to keep her, the writers explored what we could do with her, and the results were just pure magic!” she says.

In closing, Sodlaka appreciated her supporters.

“To the supporters, you guys have always believed in South African stories. The supporters are very clear about what it is that they love and what is true to them. And in this case, The Wife has affirmed even more so to me that South African stories are indeed superior to South Africans. It’s been a privilege. It’s been fun.”

Speaking to Showmax, Zikhona said there are some similarities between her and Mandisa.

“She’s Xhosa and I’m Xhosa; that’s all. We’re very different. I’m shy and quiet in real life, so it’s been really lovely playing with somebody so loud. That’s one of my favourite things about her: her absolute imperfection. Everything about her is so wrong to a person like me, who likes to hold back. It doesn’t matter what she sounds like; it doesn’t matter what she looks like; it doesn’t matter what her size is. Which is something that was quite a sore point for me in Season 1 because I had just had a baby and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, do I want to play this role? Shouldn’t I wait until I’m an eight again?’ Playing her has taught me to be a little bit braver.