Skeletons in the closet

Nonkululeko Mbatha opens the door to a dark room that Thenji has tried to put behind her.

- PALESA BUYEYE

From humanising sex work with characters who have dreams and families to feed, to educating viewers that addiction is a disease, e.tv’s newest soapie The Black Door has opened the door to important conversations and continues to do so as complex Thenji (Nonkululeko Mbatha) is forced to face her past. “Thenjiwe is very hard to love, she’s a rebel,” says Nonkululeko. “She has been fighting for acceptance from her family because she had her son at a very young age and has never revealed who the father is.” And from what we can gather there’s a reason she kept silent: She was raped by neighbourhood hero Bra Gibbs (Sello Samalahloane), which audiences aren’t fully aware of yet.

FACING HER DEMONS