By Xabiso Ngqabe26 November 2021
The Wife: Mandisa fights for her place, Hlomu sees Mqhele’s dark side
New episodes for The Wife have dropped and there is plenty of drama to savour and a devasting fight between Hlomu and Mqhele that has everyone reaching for tissues.
Watch: Hlomu The Wife series, where Zandile takes her place in the Zulu family
Update: Want to know more? Watch the behind-the-scenes special The Wife: Behind the Veil. Plus, binge all of Season 1 and 2 of The Wife on Showmax.
Episodes 7-9 are as pulsating as we expected and can be streamed immediately on Showmax. Here’s a rundown of what happened on the latest episodes of The Wife.
Update: Want to know more? Watch the behind-the-scenes special The Wife: Behind the Veil. Plus, binge all of Season 1 and 2 of The Wife on Showmax.
Hlomu settles in with Mqhele and his brothers
If there’s one person who ‘believes in indoda’, it’s Hlomu. She finally spends time with the Zulu brothers at a family braai and finally gets the taste of what this family is all about.
She gets herself busy executing household duties in an attempt to keep the flames of love burning, and boy, is she hitting the right spots. Every brother can’t stop praising Hlomu. Her friend Lerato can’t believe that she has now turned into this person, seeing a taxi driver who only wears tracksuits and sneakers.
While we’re here, she gets to see how different the life she has chosen with Mqhele is compared to the life she is used to live. “This house needs a woman’s touch,” says Mqhele, after Hlomu impressively kept everything under control in the house. Hlomu did it all, she wore an apron, cooked for the Zulu brothers, helped the kids register for boarding school, and entertained them while Mqhele and his brothers were handling business.
Mqhele and Qhawe face-off
It wasn’t very long until Qhawe – still heartsick that Hlomu has chosen Mqhele – erupted, calling his brother all sorts of names. Before we know it the two brothers are fighting again. They end up tearing each other apart in a quest to win Hlomu’s love and affection.
Qhawe makes it clear that he’s the better person for Hlomu and the only reason Mqhele is with her is that he’s just rushing things so that Hlomu doesn’t get the chance to choose. “I know you, you’re my blood. You can’t hold on to anything beautiful. You’re going to destroy her life bit by bit,” says Qhawe.
What Mandisa wants, she gets!
Just after they had finished saying grace and were ready to eat, Mandisa walked in. Talk about perfect timing. She’s not impressed that she wasn’t invited to the braai. Mandisa is Nqoba’s girlfriend and together they have a child, Ndumiso.
The table was set and there was Hlomu. Mandisa complained about how the brothers don’t care about her and that she changed Ndumiso’s surname from Zulu to Madubela until they do right by her. She demands Nqoba pay damages for his son.
Families meet on two occasions, and what was meant to be just negotiations for damages turn into lobola negotiations. Before we even know it, the Zulu brothers have paid 80K to the Madubela family, and Mandisa is wearing makoti attire, ready to leave with Nqoba and his brothers. Smart move, Mandisa!
How did we get here?
It all started when Hlomu tried to call Mqhele, only to reach her voicemail. She then decided two can play that game, so she switched her phone off too.
We smelled trouble from the moment Mqhele kept blowing up Hlomu’s phone as her phone, which was, of course, off the whole time. The look on his face told us everything we needed to know about the kind of person Mqhele is.
Later that night, Mqhele makes his way to Hlomu’s flat, where she was sleeping alone after spending a night with friends. As soon as the security gate was opened, he barged in and hit her … hard! Without saying a word.
Shocked and devastated, Hlomu is curled up on the floor, apologising as he kicks her. Here we see a side of Mqhele that makes us question whether why Hlomu chose him. All the red flags were there, but she ignored them. Having her phone off is no reason for Mqhele to hit her.
He goes from a romantic taxi driver who picked her up at work to an abusive guy, who beat her because she chose to switch her phone off once. This scene hit hard with so many viewers, as gender-based violence is a serious issue we face in the country.
It’s something that needs to be addressed until it stops!
The Wife streams exclusively on Showmax. Season 3 landing on 10 November 2022.
Youngins S2, now on Showmax
Soft Life, now streaming on Showmax
More Mzansi gold
Outopsie S1-3
Senior forensic pathologist Dr Hestelle van Staden reveals what really happens behind closed doors in captivating cases where forensic pathology played a central role.
Made in South Africa
Great African Crimes with Mandy Wiener (2024)
This one-off special explores three dramatic cases that left South Africa stunned: Daisy de Melker, the so-called Sea Cottage incident, and the Krugersdorp bank robbery.
Made in South Africa
Zarelda de Bruin on her breakout debut role in Spooksoeker
The 17-year-old Zarelda de Bruin plays Melissa in the Showmax Original Spooksoeker, now available to stream. Catch new episodes every Thursday.
Made in South Africa
9 reasons that 2024 was the best year yet for local TV
Stream the best local content on Showmax in 2024, featuring iEmmy winners, record-breaking documentaries, SAFTA winners, and globally acclaimed hits.
Made in South Africa