No parent should ever have to bury their child, and this was the horror that kept viewers riveted to their television screens and drove umama ka Mvelo, Goodness Mabuza, to suicide. After a month of suspense, finally the baby Mvelo saga has reached its conclusion.
Patronella helps Vuyiswa get her groove back
Mpho Sebata – now Mpho Toto – is newly married and in the honeymoon phase. She should be chasing her husband around the house, in the swimming pool, in the garage, and jumping up and down on the bed like that Babes Wodumo video suggests.
Instead of jiva phez’ kwembhede with Schumacher, Mpho (real name Duma Ntando) is growing suspicious of her father’s extracurricular activities. She senses that her father and sister are keeping something from her. And even though it is really none of her business, Mpho is absolutely correct.
Because of Mpho constantly mosquitoeing around Hector, and Thato is being equally disruptive to the new romance, Patronella came up with a plan. With Mjekejeke, Thando, Mpho, Schumacher, Siyanda and Thato inside the Cornerhouse, Sis Pat locked the door from the inside and hid the key. So everyone who could interfere with Hector and Vuyiswa’s romance was stuck in the Corner House all night. Meanwhile, beyond the locked Corner House doors, Hector and Vuyiswa spent some quality time together during which they played board games. Yawn! When old people get into mjolo, it’s so boring. You know what, I want a Mercedes Benz for my birthday but what I really need more is a friend like Sis Pat.
Baby Mvelo slips through Kagiso’s hands
The Khozas thought they had finally found a way to get to the kidnappers, Sixteen and Kop. But after Kagiso lost his cool and killed the one guy who could lead them to the kidnappers, they had to go back to the drawing board.
A new lead took the Khozas to Gertrude’s father. He tried to flee and Goodness shot him dead. This further infuriated Kop and Sixteen whose real names are Mbuso Kgarebe and Sipho Mdhlovu respectively. But by this time, there were divisions in the kidnapping gang. Gertrude (whose real name is Bathabile Mashigo) wanted to take her new baby and leave town. She had already given Mvelo a new name, Omphile, as if she was there with Goodness in the maternity delivery room. Kop wanted to kill Mvelo, take the money and run and gang leader, Sixteen, did not want to leave until the Khozas had no money left and Harriet had publicly confessed to selling drugs.
In the end, Sixteen’s opinion prevailed. He demanded more money from the Khozas. He should have listened to his partners.
Goodness overdoses on pills
The pain of losing her baby had sent Goodness to the edge. She took several pills and passed out. When Kagiso found her in the bedroom, unconscious, she was foaming at the mouth like a poorly domesticated husband had used too much dishwashing liquid in the kitchen sink. The doctors were able to pump her stomach before she could join Goldfinger and Diamond in hell. Brutus who finds everything funny, laughed at Goodness’ suicide attempt.
Meanwhile, Harriet was sweating on Sixteen’s latest threat. The child kidnapper was threatening to tell Brutus and Shaka about his deal with Harriet. You might recall that Harriet hired Kop and Sixteen to kill Brutus and Shaka during the family war. Noma whose loyalty has increased ever since she almost died in the wilderness, suggested to Harriet that they find the kidnappers before Brutus and Shaka.
Mvelo comes home
Harriet and Noma made the connection between Gertrude and Sixteen who are siblings. So they waited at Gertrude’s father’s home. Gertrude had stolen some of the Khoza ransom money from her brother with the intention of fleeing town. Kop and Sixteen, like two flies falling into a spider’s web, went to look for Gertrude at the father’s house where a nasty surprise awaited. They found themselves staring into Harriet and Noma’s gun barrels. Kop was stupid enough to use abusive language towards Harriet. I believe he called her old! She shot him, which I suppose proves that her reflexes are still sharp, despite being “old”. Sixteen was stupid enough to reach for his gun. Noma shot him. It seemed that the Khozas had once again killed the only people who knew where to find baby Mvelo – real name Zoe Shando. But a third fly landed in the spider’s web.
Gertrude had abandoned her plans to run away. She returned to her father’s house just as Harriet and Noma were about to leave. Gertrude entered with baby Mvelo in her arms. Harriet took back her granddaughter from her at gun point. But as Harriet and Noma reconnected with baby Mvelo, talking to her in baby talk and whatnot, Gertrude made her escape, which I thought was a little too contrived. Why would Harriet literally turn her back on a woman who had stolen her grandchild? That was one of those scenes where you just felt that the scriptwriters don’t respect us, even if Gertrude’s escape fits into whatever future plans they have for her character.
Back home at the Khoza mansion, Kagiso was almost in shock as Harriet brought back baby Mvelo. Sgaqagaqa was so stunned he forgot his manners. Without even a word of thanks, he took his daughter and went straight to Goodness. It was a beautiful reunion.
Shaka and Brutus did not stick around for the get-together. They had a double burial to take care of. Kop and Sixteen’s bodies were not going to dig their own graves.
Till next week, my pen is capped
Jerà
The Queen Mzansi airs weekdays at 9:00pm on Mzansi Magic with old episodes available on Showmax.
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