father and son

When a son hates his father [The Queen Mzansi]

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How much do you hate your father? Would you punch him in the face if he dared you? Just the thought of raising your fist to your father is unthinkable isn’t it? It is the natural order of things that sons respect their fathers. But what if the same father is the source of all your problems in life?

Harriet sets a trap

Ever since Harriet made a comeback to the drug business, night after night, she has been kept awake by one thing; who has stolen her drug territory?

Harriet has twice met her main client, Skhumbuzo “Dollar” Zulu with the intention of bringing him back into her stable. But Dollar is not only angry with the Khozas for leaving him high and dry when he needed i-stuff sakhe – his euphemism for cocaine – but he also wants a partnership rather than a buyer-seller arrangement. Without  a ready market, Harriet had to offer him 5% of the cocaine business, but Dollar got up and left. In his trademark bright suit.

 

The only solution to Harriet’s problems was to find the supplier who has taken her business. Once she gets rid of that new supplier, Dollar, Jasmine and the rest of the drug distributors would have no option but to return to her.  But how does one go about in finding a person who has gone out of their way to remain anonymous?

The repentant Noma, the friend who stole R10 million from the Khozas, had an idea. Pretending to be a drug dealer, she approached Dollar who then gave her Thando Sebata’s phone number. Armed with the number, Noma returned to Harriet who promptly set a trap.

Family ties strengthen

Meanwhile the Sebata-Khoza bond grows stronger, with Hector bringing more business for Khoza Trucking through his police contacts. Thando and Shaka’s relationship is clearly more than just physical, even though Shaka thinks they are “just having fun”. Dude, umjolo is the gateway to a wedding. Hopefully one that does not result in another explosion this time. When Kagiso asked Shaka if he would continue to see Thando, the daughter of a policeman, now that the Khozas are back in the coke business, big brother reminded him that he had dated not one but two cop daughters. Nice clap back Hlase!

 

Noma suspects that there might be something blossoming between Harriet and Sebata which would make for an awkward situationship, if father and daughter both dated people from the same family. On the other hand, Harriet needs to get lucky. The other side of her bed must be tangled in cobwebs. Apart from Zack Phiri, there has been nobody in Harriet’s life since Mzi Khoza, the father of her children died, or rather, since she killed him.

 

This Sebata-Khoza affiliation of course keeps viewers on edge as everyone and his Labrador knows that it’s only a matter of time before secrets are laid bare like stripper boobs. The Khozas will be outed for being back in the drug business and Sebata as the man responsible for Keabetswe’s death. Shaka came very close to making the connection between Thando, Jasmine and Dollar when he spotted them at a business meeting. It’s very easy to spot Dollar, with those florid suits of his. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, Thando was in the bathroom powdering her nose when Shaka saw Jasmine and Dollar.

Thando takes the bait

When the Sebatas set up a meeting with Harriet (who they believe to be Millicent) the trap was set. Thando should have heeded her father ’s hunch. Hector had been suspicious of this “Millicent” who came to them without much of a track record in the drug trade. Believing she had reeled in “a big fish” Thando went to the meeting, completely oblivious to the fact that she was in fact on the hooked end of the fishing line.

Shaka used the loving father trick to sucker a random passerby into posing as the unwitting drug buyer.

“I’m in a hurry to get to my son’s school, please pick up a parcel for me.”

As always, the meeting took place in a desolate wasteland, where nothing good ever comes out of a business rendezvous. High up on the hills, Shaka’s finger was poised on a sniper rifle trigger. When Thando arrived and got out of the vehicle, Shaka remarked on the perfection of her backside before he squeezed the trigger. Bull’s-eye!

 

A regretful father

Jackal stuck around after all. But, while relations had improved between he and Thato, Vuyiswa wanted him gone. She had found out that he was involved in the Corner House robbery after all. He then went and brought back the stolen Corner House supplies and took all the praise for solving a problem that he had created in the first place. But Vuyiswa was not about to tell Thato, she wanted Jackal to confess.

While going through Thato’s things, Jackal found writings from his son’s childhood. He read about how Thato had waited for his father to bring him a bicycle and sneakers. And how Thato wished his father would die because he had failed him. It was Thato’s birthday, a perfect opportunity for Jackal to make up for his son’s childhood disappointment.  With the help of Mjekejeke, Vuyiswa, Georgina and Schumacher, Jackal organized a surprise birthday bash at the Corner House. As the party, Jackal delivered the bicycle and sneakers that Thato missed out on. Although the bicycle arrived a little too late – “what am I going to do with a bicycle” said Thato – the birthday boy was visibly moved by the gesture.

But the fun and games ended abruptly. Jackal’s two friends, the accomplices to the Corner House robbery, appeared. They snitched on Jackal and Thato knew that his own father had stolen from him.

When a son hates father

Later, Jackal went to the Corner House to talk things out with Thato. But Thato told him to leave. Instead of leaving, Jackal locked the door from the inside and offered his face to Thato.

“Hit me.”

It was the guilt of many years that he wanted to lift off his conscience. Jackal felt that if Thato hit him, maybe they might both feel better. What son would hit his own father. Thato refused. Jackal insisted. Thato exploded. One punch to the face. Another to the midsection. Jackal did not hit back. And soon Thato straddled his father and the fists rained down on him. Shook!

Thato’s co workers, including Schumacher and Mjekejeke hearing the commotion attempted to intervene. But the door was locked. Vuyiswa fired two shots into the lock and kicked down the door. You go Vuyi! Starring!

Even when they pulled Thato off from the bleeding Jackal, he still wanted to beat him some more.

Jackal clearly wanted Thato to hit him in order to cleanse his own conscience. Faced with the same situation, I would have left the toxic father to deal with his own ghosts.

Amnesia at Ferguson Films?

The most difficult thing about keeping a telenovela running for five seasons and over a thousand episodes is that eventually the storyliners change and important details are forgotten.

Harriet secured exclusive distributorship of cocaine throughout Africa, a few months back. And now, all of a sudden, she is concerned about small time dealers like Jasmine and Dollar. Why does she need to compete with whoever is supplying Dollar and Jasmine?

The repetition of ideas is also quite worrying. The Queen is written for Ferguson Films by Phathu Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon. Father and son fisticuffs have twice appeared on Gomora (Melusi and Ntokozo) and The Queen (Schumacher and his dad, Thatho and Jackal). Men shooting at their own girlfriends with sniper guns, also a tired theme. We have seen it with Zolani when he almost killed Tumi and now Shaka with Thando in his crosshairs.

And you know what, I am still waiting for an explanation as to why Shaka didn’t recognize his own girlfriend’s car in that shooting incident.

Till next week, my pen is capped

Jerà

The Queen airs weekdays on Mzansi Magic at 9:00pm

Images from Twitter

 

 

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