Mina Nawe House episodes 1-2 recap: Mina Nawe party drama!  

Sweet vows to the preacher one minute, a drunken fall, a fight, and a hospital visit the next, as alcohol strips off one couple’s masks. Mina Nawe House opened its doors to five new couples in crisis as the second season began. Over the next few weeks, hosts Basani Chauke (a qualified social worker who specialises in couples counselling and gender-based violence) and Siyabonga Mkhize (a spiritual advisor and motivational speaker) will be putting them through exercises together that’ll expose whether their relationship can be saved, or whether a huge, red flag will wave them across the finish line. 

Two new episodes of Mina Nawe House Season 2 land every Tuesday on Showmax, and there’s always drama. Here’s what really rocked us in the first two episodes as couples Sakhile and Sthembile, Lungile and Senzo, Abel and Koketso, Ayanda and Makhegu, and Salima and Imraan were put to the test… 

Mina Nawe House episode 1: Lungile and Senzo fail to reaffirm their commitment

One couple couldn’t make it through a single evening without things getting ugly. The alcohol was flowing at Mina Nawe House, and despite two of the couples openly admitting to alcohol being a contributing factor to their issues, everyone aside from Salima and Imraan indulged. By the time the couples came to say their vows in the vow renewal ceremony, Senzo was in high spirits, while Lungile, who’d also been drinking, was losing control emotionally. Just before that, we saw both sitting in their fancy suite in the house, drinking instead of writing their vows – literally the first task that they were set as a couple in the show. And despite their stated determination and promises to commit to fixing the relationship when they entered the house, alcohol poured those promises into the dirt. 

By the time they stood up in front of their guests, including Senzo’s mother, Lungile seemed to be in control, but Senzo was struggling. His physical movements were all over the place and he was acting the clown from what seemed to be a mixture of awkwardness, insecurity and wanting to play up to and impress the crowd. But it was at the afterparty, as even more alcohol flowed, that things set off between the couple. 

When Lungile saw Senzo go to hug Ayanda, she started fuming with jealousy and claimed that he then immediately tried to mask his intentions by going to hug Makhegu, while looking at Lungile as if to say, “See? Her too. Nothing to see here.” Furious, Lungile stormed out. Ayanda, who’d seen her anger, followed her to make sure she was alright but as Lungile brushed past Ayanda and pushed Senzo away, she slipped and fell down the stairs, fracturing her ankle.  

While Lungile rested her ankle in their room afterwards, we got our first glimpse at the real state of their relationship. That look of love in front of preachers and guests was gone. And Lungile was ordering Senzo around, demanding that he fetch them more beer from the party. Senzo went back down to the party, cheerfully telling everyone that he was in big trouble. But the other guests pulled into themselves with discomfort as he sounded off. Sensing rejection, Senzo tried to pick a fight with Sakhile, who was trying with as much kindness as possible to talk him out of his state and calm things down.  

When Senzo didn’t come back to her as promised, Lungile limped back to the party in her pyjama top and skirt and scolded him saying, “I have been waiting for the beers, bastard!” Shocked, Abel stepped in to keep the two apart physically as Lungile seemed determined to attack Senzo. Senzo tried to dodge her, but also became deliberately provocative, raising his champagne glass and eating a sandwich at Lungile as she ranted about beer. When the two left the party, Lungile continued to berate Senzo and accuse him of being a womaniser. “You date sluts with tattoos. You’re cheap,” she threw at him, while rejecting his help climbing the stairs ... and complaining about him not helping her.  

Senzo later admits that he needs Lungile’s help because he doesn’t think straight when he’s drunk. Seeing the two in their room again, it’s clear they’ve gotten into terrible habits when they argue. Lungile was going out of her way to grind Senzo’s nose in his mistakes. Even when he tried to help with her ankle, she scolded him for hurting her. And there are massive jealousy issues at play that Lungile hasn’t spoken about, despite the fact that she even takes Senzo hugging another woman as a betrayal, while he admits he has the same jealous streak. Can Mina Nawe House teach them how to talk to each other with respect and love? We’ll be watching! 

Mina Nawe House episode 2: Red flag refresher 

From the moment they drive to the Mina Nawe house, these couples are as honest as they can be about what they think is going wrong. Here is just the tip of the iceberg ...

Sakhile and Sthembile: Sthembile loves Sakhile’s mischievous spirit, but he disrespects her, calls her a slut, cheats on her, physically abuses her and breaks and burns things in the house. Sakhile claims that he breaks the things she buys him when she’s drunk and that she talks too much. Sthembile (49) is older than Sakhile (27) and might be trying to “buy” his love with generosity. In episode 2, Sthembile reveals that Sakhile blew R100 000 of hers while cheating with another woman. 

Lungile and Senzo: Senzo and Lungile are in a cycle of physical, psychological and emotional abuse and apology, worsened by Senzo’s ongoing drinking problem. He feels that she owes him respect and deference as a man, while Lungile reveals that she was not raised with those values, and that Senzo hurls vulgar abuse at her, but that she also feels as if she bullies him when she fights back.  

Abel and Koketso: Abel accuses Koketso of being jealous and picking fights, while Koketso believes that he’s a poor communicator. While he’s all smiles, she seems to be at the end of her rope and hints that Abel has done things that have broken down her sense of security. Abel believes that Koketso is the problem in the relationship and does not acknowledge any wrongdoing on his part. 

Ayanda and Makhegu: This lesbian couple is playing the blame game. Ayanda believes she can do no wrong and that they’re there so Makhegu can fix her ways, while Makhegu believes that Ayanda is deliberately provoking her and causing trouble. Ayanda seems to think that she’s doing Makhegu a favour by being with her, but admits that she is carrying baggage from a previous failed marriage, and both are dealing with massive trauma from abuse in the past. 

Salima and Imraan: Imraan is emotionally and physically abusing Salima, and the couple attribute his anger issues to “jinn kind” – an evil spirit living in Imraan. The couple get off to a slow start in the first few episodes that make us wonder what is really lurking under the surface.

New episodes of Mina Nawe House land on Showmax every week.