The South African
Lusanda Mbane, who played the villainous role of Boniswa Langa on e.tv’s No 1 soapie Scandal!, will be leaving the popular daily drama series later this year.
The actress first appeared in 2016 alongside The River actor Hlomla Dandala as Boniswa’s husband, Siseko Langa, at the time.
WHAT A JOURNEY! WHAT A RIDE! – LUSANDA MBANE
In an interview with TimesLive, following a statement by the free-to-air channel, Mbane had the following to say about playing the role of the villain viewers “love to hate”:
“What an honour! What a journey! What a ride! Five years ago I took on this warm, mother-natural queen Boniswa Langa, who cared about nothing else but the wellbeing of her family. Little did I know she would evolve into the cold, calculated villain our audiences have come to love to hate,” said Lusanda.
BONISWA LANGA: A VILLAIN TO THE CORE
Mbane’s character was deceiving from the get-go. She appeared to be a loving mother to her children — Chumani Langa and Xolile Langa (Ayanda Daweti and Sivenathi Mabuya) — and a devoted wife to her husband.
But she soon revealed her true colours when her husband died and began to play every dirty game in the book to get her way.
She kept her son’s biological father a secret and then killed him when he found out. As if that wasn’t enough, she drugged her son and drove him to a mental institution.
She also had a hand in Romeo Medupe’s (Hungani Ndlovu) disappearance. Romeo Medupe was her son in-law and he’s still missing.
PLANNED EXIT
The actress stated in her interview with TshisaLIVE that it has always been important for her to walk away while she is still on top.
She says she knew in her heart the day she walked into the Scandal! studios for the first time in June 2016, that her character would be a “five-year journey”.
I leave Boniswa as a celebrated, powerful, undiluted villain. This is the end of her journey and she will now remain only in my heart and will continue to live through the millions who continue to give me the best Boniswa Langa quotes and impersonations every day. I love you all.
It is unclear at this stage what the actress’s plans are after Scandal!
MORE ACTORS WHO LEFT ‘SCANDAL!’
- The show also bid farewell to Tshepo ‘Howza’ Mosese who played the role of detective Lerumo Chabedi.
- Patrick Mofokeng who plays the role of Mlungisi Ngema also exited the show recently for a new telenovela Linganishoni on Mzansi Magic.
