“Very demure. So mindful. So thoughtful.”
So said Zikhona Sodlaka — paraphrasing the catchphrase from US content creator Jools Lebron, which went viral on TikTok recently — to explain her look: a cream skirt suit finished off with black tie, fishnet stocks and sparkly heels.
The actress was breezing down the red carpet at this year’s Royalty Soapie Awards, where she was nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress category for her role in Gqeberha: The Empire.
This was last Saturday evening at the Heartfelt Arena, a large function venue next door to 1 Military Hospital in Thaba Tshwane, Pretoria. On the outside, it could be mistaken for a Makro, but inside it sports a huge 3,500m² space, state-of-the-art screens, and an impressive two-tier stage.
If truth be told, I didn’t have especially lofty expectations for this happening. The last time I attended this outing to celebrate those both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes of our local daily TV dramas, I described the event as “messy”.
However, six years later it appears founder Winnie Ntshaba — who in a cute move had her 15-year-old son Phenyo Modise as her date — has managed to smooth the rougher edges of this soapie spectacle.
“Can this baby just grow so it can walk on its own?” quipped the actress, who South Africa fell in love with as Khethiwe on Generations back in the early 2000s, and who now stars as Faith Zwide in popular series House of Zwide.
Certainly, this year, the stars put their best fashion-foot forward.
Take Hellen Motsuki, who embraced the dress code’s command that guests “evoke charm, grace and timeless elegance”, in her red Otiz Seflo gown. One of the few early arrivals, the Skeem Saam actress made sure the paparazzi didn’t miss her look either — she walked the red carpet both outside and inside the venue.
Then there was Siphesihle Vazi and Zanele Potelwa of the immensely popular SABC1 entertainment show Selimathunzi, which makes a return to the box this week. “It’s red for royalty, and red for the people’s champion,” said Zanele about her look.
Another vision in red was Nobuhle Mimi Mahlasela, the actress known for her role in the long-running, but now cancelled, Afrikaans soapie 7de Laan, who was looking lithe in a dreamlike Erre dress. “It’s not Ozempic,” Mimi assured me when discoursing on about her svelte figure.
“As you get older, you need to look after yourself a lot more than when you did when you were younger. I have cut out a lot of sugar and fat — for health reasons, obviously.”
A quick hello was said to British-South African actor Anthony Oseyemi, who was handing out a couple of the international gongs [this year, the awards have expanded to include pan-African categories], and who had come to the event with president of the American Society of South Africa Allana Foster-Finley.
I also caught up with actress, comedian and vocal dynamo Tracey-Lee Oliver [who sweetly brought with her Christabel Koul, her childhood friend from Grabouw, where they both grew up], and TV producer Mandla N, who has found love with Miss South Africa 2023 contestant Melissa Nayimuli after his divorce from actress and singer Tumi Masemola.
Someone I had been looking forward to meeting was Mduduzi Mabaso, the actor who has starred in a slew of international films, including Blood Diamond and Hotel Rwanda, and who was nominated in the Best Villain category for his role as Mgedeza in DiepCity.
“What do you think your chances are of being named baddie top dog?” I asked the acting vet.
“Only God decides,” was his answer.
The stars must have aligned because Mduduzi — who came with his wife, Fatima Metsileng — did, indeed, walk away with the title, while Zikhona scooped the award in her category.
Among the other accolades, telenovela The River was named Outstanding Daily Drama, the pan-African show trophy went to Nigerian soapie Tinsel, and Dr Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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