It is society’s unanimous assumption that sex can never be forced on a man, and it is this inaccurate assumption that stood between Teddy and justice. When your own mother doubts your cry for justice, what chance do you stand in convincing a panel of strangers of your injury?
Sonto gets cold feet
When Sonto and Mike announced their impending nuptials, the only objection came from Thathi. The rest of the Molefe household was thrilled, especially Pretty who immediately appointed herself the wedding planner. Pretty has been Sbonga’s vat and sit baby mama for fifteen years. Maybe she should focus on getting her own wedding!
After Thathi failed to convince her mother to break up with Mike, she sought Sbonga’s help. Sbonga lives off Sonto’s goodwill. All Thathi had to do was point out to him that Mike would inherit the house, the car, the tavern in the event of Sonto’s death. Ask mother to get a prenuptial agreement from Mike, said Thathi. But Sbonga lost his nerve when Sonto put him in his place.
But the thought of being married triggered extreme anxiety in Sonto. The wedding was off, inwardly Thathi did cartwheels in her expensive heels.
Teddy one nil down at half time
After Principal Dlamini brought in the district manager, a disciplinary hearing was called. Despite her guilt, Miss Manzi was not going to make it easy for Dlamini. Even though it was only a school hearing, she brought her lawyer along. She knew that Teddy would be intimidated by a white lawyer speaking in English. Her assumption was correct. After presenting Teddy as the “obsessed” pupil who pursued her, he then went on to give a weak testimony. Manzi’s lawyer also tore down Principal Dlamini’s credibility as a parent, educator and witness. Gladys too faced similar attacks. But Gladys the Gladiator gave as many punches as she took. And then she walked out of the “joke” of a hearing, taking her husband, Teddy and Zodwa with her. With the complainant having abandoned the hearing, victory appeared certain for Manzi. But Manzi mistook the first half whistle to be the end of the game; and every game of diski has two halves.
Hiyu! Manzi went and twisted everything and now Teddy looks like a monster. 🙈😭 #Gomora
— Mzansi Magic (@Mzansimagic) December 28, 2020
The on-and-off wedding
After Sonto called off the wedding, Mike saw no reason to hang around. He left. But regret soon came over Sonto. When she rang Mike, he hung up on her. Sonto, the stone cold killer, was hurting. Finally, after letting Sonto simmer in pain, Mike returned. The wedding was back on and with, surprise surprise, Thathi’s blessing.
But Mike had seen signs of Sonto’s shady side business. At first he walked in on her meeting with some thuggish looking men. She managed to explain her way out of that one. Sadly for Sonto, she was not so lucky when Mike overheard her discussing car theft with Mazet at home. Mike now knows the truth.
Teddy comes back fighting
Many soccer matches have been won or lost after the half time team talk. Teddy, the fanatic lover of diski, recomposed himself after a poor first half performance. Manzi was leading one nil and Teddy was determined to get back on level terms. He obtained Melusi Dlamini’s vehicle tracker records. On the day that Manzi first slept with Teddy, she had used Melusi’s car under the pretext of a school stationary shopping trip. Team Teddy, comprising Ntokozo, Melusi, Zodwa and Gladys returned to the disciplinary hearing just as the committee was preparing to issue a ruling in their absence. After apologizing for their walk out, Teddy requested the opportunity to question Miss Manzi. She took the stand.
Teddy then produced evidence of Melusi Dlamini’s vehicle movements on the day of the first rape proving that Miss Manzi lied about the school errand with Teddy. But still, Manzi denied the charge of sexual impropriety with a learner. Teddy had to bring out his biggest gun. He revealed intimate details about the location of her birthmark on the inner thigh and breast. Gladys who has seen Manzi naked countless times corroborated Teddy’s testimony. Manzi sat in her chair, crestfallen and the committee members watched through bulging eyes, shooketh!
Victory for Teddy
When the four man committee voted, two members suggested that Miss Manzi be sacked with immediate effect. But the other two members felt a suspension was sufficient punishment. Imagine that, a rapist getting away with just a slap on the wrist.
With the committee deadlocked, an arbitrator was appointed. She voted in favour of dismissal of Manzi. Finally, Teddy had won. But this was just the beginning; Teddy went on to file a police report. We can expect a long drawn out court case. Sounds like a job for Sandra Stein?
Teddy may have won the disciplinary hearing but he was not going to defeat ignorance overnight. In Sonto’s tavern, a group of men would poke fun at Teddy because he should have just “eaten his lunch in silence”, a euphemism for quietly enjoying sex with Manzi.
Tick tick kaboom!
While Teddy triumphed over Manzi, his best friend Ntokozo was silently battling his own monsters. Ntokozo not only has heavy secrets to carry – Mahlasela’s murder, Mohato’s unmarked grave – but he continues to feel like his problems have been shelved for the sake of Teddy. Although Ntokozo deserves the same level of parental support as Teddy, his problems are largely the result of his own actions. He voluntarily went on a car theft trip with Mazet and Jomo, leading to him shooting Mbongeni, whereas Teddy did not ask to be raped. The uncle he mourns was a killer, car thief and coward who held two women hostage until they had no option but to kill him in self defence. Still, Ntokozo is a ticking bomb and may blow up any time soon.
Too many cooks in Gomora production
https://twitter.com/rewindmzansi/status/1346140771754323973?s=21
Teddy had to go all CSI just to prove Manzi’s guilt. But Miss Hlungwane, Ntokozo and Langa who witnessed Miss Manzi groping Teddy on two separate occasions could have given testimony. I wonder if the writers forgot these important details from previous episodes? Perhaps the fact that Gomora has several series writers taking turns to pen the script may be causing these inconsistencies in the story.
Till next week, my pen is capped.
Jerà
Gomora airs weekdays at 7:30pm on Mzansi Magic and is also available on Showmax
Images from Twitter