The Sunday News
Bekezela Tshuma, Sunday Life Correspondent
SHE perhaps threw away the bowlines, sailed away from the safe harbour, caught the trade winds in her sails as she dreamt, explored and discovered. She kept her eyes on the prize, face on the sunshine and never saw the shadow.
This could be the tale of one fearless, beautiful and strong young woman, Mbonisi Mahonondo, who believed that anything is possible when you have the right people around to support you.
Born and bred in the City of Kings, her determination and resilience saw her defying odds, as she recently landed a role in Scandal, one of South Africa’s most sought after soapies.
She is wining and dining right in the midst of renowned television personalities such as Siseko Langa, Yvonne and Gloria, just to mention a few. In short, she is soaring with the eagles.
The famous Ellen DeGerenes is quoted saying, “Sometimes you cannot see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others” and this could have been the case with Mbo Mahocs’ rise to fame. Part of her success lays in people she surrounded herself with, those that saw the gem she possessed in the depth of her soul and held her hand up the success ladder.
Famous philosophy has it that nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm and herein rests the phenomena of Mbo Mahocs, whose zeal, topped up with inspiration from individuals, kept her striving forward and alas, her bucket list has been ticked.
Maintaining a humble, grateful tone, she takes us through her long walk, to success not forgetting details of the strong support system she has had over the years.
“You know I’m very blessed to have a very strong backbone of people that support me which is why I am able to do what I do.
My parents are very supportive towards my craft. Fine, in the beginning, as a parent you always have the best interest of your child at heart and that was the same for my parents. There was a time they did not want me to pursue this, it’s because they were concerned that you are a girl child and you are out at night you have a gig and you meet so many people, you know it’s not so safe so they worried about things like that but eventually they accepted that and they saw that I was passionate about arts and they encouraged me.”
Oozing a great sense of maturity, she narrates how the people around any individual have an influence on what that particular individual may yield in the future.
“I think it’s very important for anybody to have a solid support system even from friends, who do you hang around with, do they encourage you, do they build you — make you want to go to the next level. I have people like that around me. Gilmore T Moyo for example. That’s my buddy, we started creating this brand together from day one, he knows me in and out, he knows my goals, we share a similar vision, if I could say. I appreciate Gilmore because he is a hard worker. He is a selfless human being who sometimes forgets himself when he is helping the next person. You don’t find people like that. I’m grateful for him.
I always say to him he is my God sent because without friends like him I wouldn’t have had the courage to even feel like I could stand in front of a crowd and do anything.”
She went on to attest the unwavering support she also gets from her current partner.
“And also, currently I have a very supportive partner who helps me rehearse my scripts. Sometimes when I have been shooting the whole day from six to six and when I get home I’m exhausted and he is able to say you know what, you don’t have to cook you, don’t have to do anything just sit down and relax. There are people like that so I am super blessed. Anybody needs a very strong backbone of people that they depend on and I am lucky to have that.”
There is an old adage which states that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, therefore we are taken back to when the star in question began her journey of a thousand miles, when she was still young and slowly being introduced to the arts scene.
“Growing up my mum used to take me to events, I remember when I was about seven years old she would take me out to the Bulawayo Theatre because we stay just near that place. I remember at one time there was a white guy who was performing and he was called Bless Bridges. Funny I was so young but can still remember that name. Sometimes she would take me to ballroom dancing at the Bulawayo City Hall. There used be an annual ballroom dance there and I enjoyed performance, naturally but I really can’t say that is where my passion really came from because I feel that this was something naturally inside me.”
As the time chimed and the years went by, Mbo Mahocs began to draw inspiration from local artists and envisioned herself holding a similar position of being an artiste, just like them in the future.
“I looked up to people like Frank Malaba, he is like a brother to me and he used to stay next to our home and I remember when he was acting in the local film Amakorokoza, I thought he was an amazing actor and that inspired me, it encouraged me. I loved Sandra Ndebele and I can’t tell how many times I would carry a broom, stand in front of the mirror and pretend I was her. I loved that song of hers Mama we mama sinike ithuba. I used to love that song because at that time my mother did not allow me to pursue art, she didn’t want to hear anything about drama, she would ask me what help it brought to me, things like that and that song used to relate to me because in that song she talks about mothers who deny their kids a chance to shine and do what they love to do so that is how I resonated with that. She is an amazing woman who has done exceptionally well and she still inspires me. Sandra is one of the people that have their hustle on point.”
She further reflected on those that exhibited great prowess in the arts and went on to confidently reveal that she was tailor made for performance.
“I also grew up at time when there was beautiful Sizwakele Ndlovu “Zwa” on ZTV. She used to present Amakhosi live; I loved her, seeing her on TV was exciting for me and its funny how I was naturally drawn to it. You don’t even think about it that if I grew up I want to be this. You just fall in love with it and find yourself being drawn into spaces where there is creativity, there is art, there is dance, and there is music. That is why I still go back and say I was born for this, I was made for this, I was cut out for this because it’s something I don’t struggle with, when I am presenting, when I am acting, when I’m performing my heart is at peace it feels right with me. And of course during the times of Zwa there were the likes of Morris Touch and Ezra Tshisa Sibanda.”
She did not forget to mention the grassroots from where her talent was perhaps also discovered.
“I would love to give credit to my school teachers because had it not been them, because we spend more time at school than at home so its teachers mostly that notice that a child is talented and for me when I went to Minda High School in Kezi I had a teacher called Mrs Magwali. She was my drama teacher. She encouraged me in that regard and I did well in drama because it’s those people that identify and see that there is something special about this child. I was transferred from Minda to Eveline and there I met T H Moyo who is a playwright and is still teaching at Eveline, he is one of the people that hound my craft and helped me grow towards that.
Raisedon Baya would come to school to teach us drama, poetry writing so it’s those people I give credit to because they noticed and encouraged that thing they saw existed, that even myself didn’t see then, mine was just playing the drum and just enjoy but then it’s those people that gave me the platform to do school plays and excel and have our parents watch etc. It’s where it started, and for me it’s always been there all my life. You know you should ask anybody who knows me, from high school even from primary school I was always a performer, I was always in the main school play, I was the one who was singing. You know, it’s a privilege and honour to live my dream, it’s overwhelming, it’s incredible. Not so many people get that opportunity and I feel like I’m so super blessed. It’s nothing I take for granted,” she added.
