By SANE MSELEKU
I have been watching e.tv for decades now and it’s still going strong, and people are still fans. At home they are so fond of the channel even my dad prefers the news from e.tv, he says they are more detailed.
There is this series called Imbewu, it has been airing for some time now and people are so in love with it. And I was not taking much interest in it since I only watched it in passing and had no clue what was happening.
I must admit that I was too quick to judge and dismiss it, thinking it was boring and lacked direction.
It is all about the Bhengu seed
That was until recently when I thought why not, let me watch this drama since it is from my city Durban. Let me just see what they are cooking, and wow it caught me by surprise.
I was so pleasantly surprised. The first thing that I loved was the title itself, Imbewu which simply means a seed. The episode that got me glued was when they defined the meaning of Imbewu.
The story line is family orientated, it is mostly about family conflict and tradition. This isiZulu series is teaching us our culture (of isiZulu) since it is based in rural areas, specifically uMbumbulu.
In the drama there is a highly respected and powerful family, the Bhengus, which is led by MaNdlovu who is doing all that she can to keep her family together. She may seem cruel, but she is not because everything she does is for her family’s sake.
More twists and turns ahead
The family found a long-lost son Nkululeko and they took him in. He then had a son with Zethu, the daughter of family friend, Phunyuka Khanyile. There is Shongololo, a Pastor who is the elder son of MaNdlovu Bhengu who has a late brother Zimele. He was married to MaZulu and had four children.
It was later found the children were not Zimele’s since he was infertile and had no clue. But his mom knew and made means to grow his family and MaZulu was impregnated by his brother in-law Shongololo.
The story continues when Zithulele met Zola and fell in love with her and decided to pay amalobola – the bride price -which made the family happy. That was until it turned sour when Zola aborted the baby and the family found out. It is an important issue and is the disgrace to our culture. It is also a sign of disrespecting amadlozi – the ancestors. Zithulele has forgiven her because he still loves her and MaNdlovu still does not trust her and wants nothing to do with her.
There is also the secret that has not yet come out that Zola slept with Zuthulele’s brother Nkululeko and might be preggers. It will get uglier as the season goes on. Imbewu is on e.tv at 9.30pm weekdays.
