TRIBUTE TO MANDLA THABETHE

DUT Drama Department HOD Debbie Lutge pays tribute to former Technikon Natal student.

Durban University of Technology Drama Department HOD Debbie Lutge pays tribute to former Technikon Natal student, Mandla Thabethe, who died in Gauteng at the end of January.

I met Mandla Thabethe at the end of 1989 when he successfully auditioned for the then Drama and Theatre Crafts Department at Technikon Natal (currently the Durban University of Technology). Mandla’s impish grin and twinkling eyes were a constant reminder that here was someone mischievous and full of surprise. His face was a combination of disarming charm, quizzical curiosity, and unabashed comic warmth with just a touch of sass thrown in for good measure. A lethal combination which later made him a favourite with his many female viewers!

As a student, Mandla quickly perfected Scarpin type characters. His quick-witted commentary and intuitive sense of comedic timing on stage cast a lasting spell allowing him to initiate a small following in Durban. This was to grow with each new endeavour. Additionally, Mandla used his strong stage presence to excel in mime adding depth to his original physical choices and quick smile. This is evident in the sign language used in later work on the learning channel on TV. In his third year of study Mandla directed his own play, a one-act comedy entitled The Bosses. This two-hander ran for a week to full houses.

Mandla had a knack of communicating with his audiences because he understood what was sought and because he knew he needed to surprise. This sense of honesty and humanity or ‘ubuntu’ characterise his later work as Bongo on the SABC 1 Family Bonds (Ezomdeni in isiZulu). This deep comprehension of identity was always treated with a sense of cultural irony by Mandla who continued to uncover the shifts in social veneer that he discovered throughout his life. It was as if each new artistic revelation conjured more flabbergasting elements Mandla needed to share.

For me as a teacher, Mandla was always a frontiers man: interesting and unexpected. On my way from the US, imagine my astonishment at switching on the BBC channel in Britain to see Mandla in a small part on the TV series Cecil John Rhodes. Mandla would take the wind out of your sails by popping in impromptu-style to see a show at the Courtyard Theatre or rock up at a rehearsal and chat about the industry to students. This is, in fact, how Xolile Zondi was mentored by Mandla. Mandla continued to surprise by noting the lack of opportunities around him in Durban. Mandla’s response was to initiate a TV Sitcom (Family Bonds) with Durban talent by a company on a Durban location. A feat few have managed to achieve.

Not only did 39 year-old graduate Mandla Thabethe engage the industry wearing many caps, producing, writing and acting in Family Bonds, a show garnering five SAFTA 2010 nominations including a nomination for Bongo for Best Comedy Actor, his boundless energy extended to other fields and hobbies.

True to the form of an excellent performer, Mandla Thabethe left us unexpectedly awaiting more. On one hand it was the rush and exhilaration of a new Harley Davidson adventure that led to his tragic accident in the early hours of Sunday morning January 31, 2010 - on the other, it was this impulsiveness, this sudden exuberance that was also the driver of his artistic charisma.

Mandla was a frontrunner because he took the bull by the horns and twisted in a new direction. He will be remembered as a pioneer in his industry, as producer of the first essentially Durban based Sitcom, as mentor to young Durban television ‘wannabees’, as writer/creator of a popular sitcom in isiZulu, as an artist whose heart belonged to the green hills of KwaZulu-Natal. Mandla Thabethe was finally laid to rest in the Pinetown cemetery. He will be sorely missed by his remaining Lecturer, his alma mater and his Technikon Natal class of ‘92. - Debbie Lutge.