Xolani Mfeka aka Nganono Of Imbewu Finally Reveals Why He Was Fired From The Soapie

After much excitement and preparation on the part of Xolani Mfeka, aka Nganono Bhengu; when he was called upon to join the cast of the e.tv soapie, ‘Imbewu,’ the actor’s dream was cut short when he was suddenly axed out, after just a few episodes.
He was stunned when Imbewu’s producers told him his character would be killed off.
“I don’t know how I feel. The Zulu coordinators and other isiZulu-speaking people said because of a failure to correctly speak my mother tongue, the performance was invalidated. There was never an issue with my performance. There was an issue with the language,” he told Drum.
“During the auditions we were told we can play the character the best way possible and we can be multilingual – we could speak isiZulu and English, it was fine,” he recalls.
“This is a story from Umlazi, why are we using words that won’t be relatable to the youth? Even people who are more eloquent than I am won’t speak isiZulu that way.”
He says they were looking for a guy who was well-travelled and well-spoken in English to play Nganono.
Xolani had researched his character and knew exactly how he wanted to portray the savvy eldest son “but the Zulu coordinators tell you you have to play the character like a Zulu person”, Xolani says.
“I don’t care whether I’m new in the acting industry but when the guy is cocky and a geek I have to play him like that, but they said no, they don’t do things like that here. It becomes a problem when people influence you on how the role should be played,” he says.
Xolani wasn’t the only actor who was coached by the Zulu coordinators. He claims they did the same with Tony Kgoroge, who replaced Mpumelelo “but he’s been in the game for longer so he’s able to tell them how he thinks he should play the character, and nothing happens to him”.
It’s a different case for younger actors, he says, who are “told to obey the rules even though those rules are letting us down.”
Most of the pressure started from social media when some users decided to throw shade. One user wrote:
“He can’t act, he’s like a statue controlled with a remote.”
Another wrote:
“He’s Zulu, attended predominantly white schools – even at his crib they spoke English. He lost his identity,” In response to these criticisms Xolani said:
“When you start out not everyone is happy for you. These things happen. We’re all facing negativity and you don’t have to take everything to heart. I don’t doubt for a second I can speak my mother tongue. This language lives in me.”
He also feels let down by the production team’s handling of the public onslaught. “They claimed I can’t act because I want to play the role my way. I really think it was a dragon’s den, it was every man for himself.”
“At the end of the day you learn and you grow. That’s life,” he says. He has no intention of throwing the towel in just yet – no matter what people say.
“If I quit, it will mean I’m weak.”
Xolani Mfeka, has played minor roles in Generations, The Legacy, Zabalaza and Gauteng Maboneng, and believes his character would have grown into a fan favourite had the producers of Imbewu given him more freedom to interpret the role.
Xolani, 27, was raised by his mother, Thembelihle Mfeka, 43, and his grandmother, Thokozani Mfeka 68, and matriculated from Durban High School.
He joined Star Quality, an artist management agency and acting academy, soon after graduating from Damelin, with a sound engineering diploma.