Five minutes with Homecoming star Amahle Khumalo

Coming to Mzansi Wethu Channel 163 from 28 July at 6:30PM, Homecoming follows Zethu Hlongwane (Mpume "Six" Nyamane), a straight-A medical graduate who finds herself returning home to rural Bergville, KZN, with her surgical dreams in tatters. 

Among a stellar cast, Amahle Khumalo (Empini) plays young "shebeen queen" Mthandeni Madlala – an unusual character in reality and on screen, and, in many ways, the counterpoint to Zethu. "I was quite shocked when I found out that Mthandeni runs her own shebeen," explains Khumalo. "A friend and I went out of our comfort zones and spent time in shebeens in Alexandra and Soweto, taking our time ekasi - not only with the shebeen queens, but also with the patrons, learning about the culture that side. I’m grateful to the people who let me behind the curtain to see how a shebeen really operates."

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Mthandeni’s husband, Shwabi, is a ward councillor in Bergville. He wields great power – and knows it. He’s the kind of man who knows how to work a room and a budget: charming, calculating, quietly feared and a less-than-faithful spouse. He seduced the younger Mthandeni with promises, a car, a ring and a life that looked like the definition of luxury. Now, her life and everything about her are the envy of every girl in town, especially when compared to Zethu, who left to chase her dreams and came back broken. 

 "I think as South Africans we understand the dynamic of ‘sugar daddies’ and ‘sugar babies’ and Mthandeni is a ‘victim’ of that dynamic. As glam as she looks, she’s not living a glamorous lifestyle and she’s yet to be honest with herself that this isn’t the life she actually wants for herself," explains Amahle.

Amahle and Mpume star alongside a mix of talented fresh and familiar faces like Sipho Manzini (The Queen, iNkaba); Khombi Phetla (The River); Mpilo Mbatha (Shaka iLembe, The River) and Khayalethu Xaba (Shaka iLembe, Lavish). "I think what was most fun about joining the cast of Homecoming was realising how young everyone is – it’s not common to get cast in a show as one of the oldest actors when you’re still a twenty-something!" says Amahle. "Six and I are friends in real life – we’ve known each other since meeting on another set a long time ago and I think it was another full circle moment, landing this job."

What does she love about the show?

“It’s a real story, reflective of the South Africa that we know. Everyone will see themselves in one of the characters. It’s beautifully written, so relatable and is nothing like anything South African viewers have ever seen before,” she says.

Don’t miss the premiere of Homecoming on Monday, 28 July at 6:30PM, airing Mondays to Wednesdays on Mzansi Wethu Channel 163.