Netflix’s South African crime drama ‘Umthetho’ centres on family, loyalty, love and survival, with characters forced to make choices that blur the line between right and wrong.
Nqobile ‘Nunu’ Khumalo plays Mbali, who discovers that her brother Moses, whom she believed was dead, is alive. His return draws her into a dangerous world involving prison, family and difficult decisions.
For Khumalo, understanding Mbali meant examining the motivations behind choices that may appear irrational to viewers.
“She was very brave, and she was very firm in her decision-making. She seemed to just be sure of things that I would think personally are crazy to do,” Khumalo says.
“However, she dove in, and I think that’s the courage that comes with loving people unconditionally. I think Mbali is one of the few characters that are capable of unconditional love in this series.”
Mbali’s priorities are tested as she tries to protect her brothers Moses and Sphelele, as well as those around her.
“My brothers,” Khumalo says when asked who Mbali chooses.
“She doesn’t turn on Moses. She saves Sphelele, and the how of that is where the courage comes in.”
Khumalo is joined by her ‘Red Ink’ co-star Lorcia Cooper-Khumalo, who plays Crystal Dlamini, Moses’ wife.
Crystal is a prison nurse, mother and member of the brotherhood, navigating a male-dominated environment while maintaining her position.
Cooper-Khumalo says she approached Crystal as a person first rather than defining her through gender.
“I’m equal; I don’t separate that, not in my personal life, and I didn’t separate that for Crystal,” she says.
“For me, it was clear: I know what I’m doing, and I’m probably better than you at this job. I don’t need to prove it to you; I’ll just do it, and you’ll see.”
Crystal falls in love with Moses while working at the prison. Cooper-Khumalo says his commitment to a cause and the injustice he experiences influence her feelings for him.
“I think Crystal, being who she is, she’s always been an independent woman, and I think finding someone like Moses, who stands for a cause, who is treated unjustly, I think it just opened her heart,” she says.
Moses, played by Tony Kgoroge, is the leader of Gaz’lam. His life as a prisoner repeatedly clashes with his roles as a husband, father and brother.
“Moses’ character has changed from time to time, with survival being at the root of it all,” Kgoroge says.
“I think he chooses his line very carefully, and he grabs any opportunity that comes with that. He knows that if he chooses his wife at that time, that’s what he goes with. It’s a prisoner’s life. You have to always be alive; that’s where I think Moses is.”
For Mbali, however, protecting others comes at a personal cost. Khumalo says the character struggles with self-love while trying to hold her family together.
“I truly understand her heart, but it’s clear that she has some growing to do. The self-love is at a deficit. She’s not winning, but this is the only family she has,” she says.
“We don’t know where her mother is. She’s lost her father. She thought she had lost her brother. Suddenly he’s back and then her younger brother’s in jeopardy.”
Cooper-Khumalo says the complexity of the characters is central to the series.
“Every single character represents a purpose and a reason, and so you could unpack it and go, ‘I don’t resonate with that’, but you do resonate with something else,” she says.
“And I think that’s a beautiful thing because that’s life.”
‘Umthetho’ is streaming on Netflix.
