The Wife Season 3 episode 10-12 recap: This world isn’t for the faint-hearted

The Wife Season 3 episodes 10-12 arrive with the most pulsating action we’ve seen yet. Just when you think Mqhele and Hlomu’s marriage is making progress, a new challenge arises and takes them back to where they started. While Qhawe continues to sweep Naledi off her feet, Sambulo marries Xoli.

Meanwhile, the warfare between Mandisa and the Zulu brothers reaches a boiling point with disastrous consequences. This family always had a way of bouncing back, but this time, they might have taken too many blows.

Mandisa to pack and leave her house

Mandisa picks up where she left off last week. Since Nqoba’s funeral, Mandisa’s aim has been to rat the Zulu brothers out for all their shenanigans. It’s almost as if she knows her time is up and has to do what she has to do. She addresses the Zulu family about Ndumiso’s inheritance following Nqoba’s passing.

One thing we already know is that the Zulu brothers never liked Mandisa. It was already clear that they were always going to treat her like an outsider even though she is part of the family. Mandisa receives the shock of her life when Nkosana presents her with a letter from court instructing her to vacate the house, which also includes Nqoba’s tavern, a business they started together.  

It wasn’t until Hlomu spoke out about the unfair treatment towards Mandisa that they listened and gave Mandisa her house.

“You do know that when elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers, right?”, asks Hlomu. “So, who’s the one suffering here? Who? Ndumiso. Let’s make the child the priority. What I would like to happen is for Mandisa to be allowed back into her home and continue with her Tavern”.

Nkosana has a change of heart and calmly agrees with Hlomu.

Sambulo marries Xoli in an unconventional way

Sambulo expresses his love for Xoli and to his surprise, she responds by asking him to marry her. Hesitant at first, the Zulu brother remembers how Jabu, his first love, got killed at Mqhele’s wedding. If you are a fan of this show, you probably already know that Zulu weddings often go with death. We saw what happened at Mqhele’s wedding when Mpande and Mvelo got killed.

Xoli tells him, that’s in the past now and he’s looking at his future in front of him. He immediately softens up and agrees. They dress up and celebrate their own private wedding, just the two of them. 

It is a shocking revelation for the Zulus when they discover that Sambulo and Xoli have tied the knot. Everyone is happy for them except Mqhele, who thinks his brother should have known better than to go against the way things are done in the Zulu family.

“Since when do we, the Ndabezitha clan, get married like that?”, Mqhele asks the rest of his brothers. There will be no celebrating. Not before things are done the Ndabezitha way.”

Sambulo agrees he made a mistake by not following tradition and they all give him their blessings.

Mandisa’s fatal mistake

Mandisa shows up at the Zulu mansion drunk and drenched in blood. She had just been through a traumatic experience when her old acquaintance “Billy the Billionaire” sexually assaulted her. Things had gotten bad for Mandisa – still grieving and broke, she couldn’t afford a lawyer to help with the inheritance case and even her own father couldn’t help.

She was forced to do something she had vowed to never do – exchange sex for money. When Billy violated Mandisa by raping her, she retaliated and ended up killing him.

She arrives at the Zulu mansion demanding her child and Mqhele refuses. What they didn’t realise was that Mandisa is armed and when they started wrestling with her she pulled out the pistol and started firing shots.

Qhawe tried to calm her down, and while they were trying to get the gun out of her hands, Ndumiso ran to his mother – who released a shot that killed her son. Realising the weight of what she had done, looked at Hlomu and says, “Hlomu, this world isn’t for the faint-hearted.” She grabs a gun and then shoots herself. 

We’ve seen Mandisa do the most horrendous things, including burning R80 million and burying Nqoba against his brothers’ wishes but we also know that she loved her family. She was left with no one in her corner and it could be that the brothers pushed her over the edge this time around. Viewers have been in awe of Mandisa’s strength, messages have been pouring in on Zikhona Sodlaka’s brilliant acting and others were shaken by these explosive episodes.

Watch the Trailer of The Wife Season 3 episodes 10-12

Despite the obstacles they are facing, the Zulu brothers will always choose love and their women. The brothers are finding comfort in their loved ones after Nqoba’s passing but their challenges are not over just yet. Qhawe and Naledi’s relationship continues to grow and Sambulo marries Xoli. Meanwhile, Mandisa is more determined to work alongside the detective in dethroning the Zulu brothers. Will her plan backfire?

We thought we had seen all the worst things Mandisa was capable of until Nqoba’s funeral when she refused to honour his brothers’ wishes to bury him in Mbuba. The trailer shows that time is ticking for Mzansi’s favourite Zulu family and Mandisa is ready to dish out all the truth about their dirty secrets. 

What to watch on Showmax

Seasons 1 and 2 of Uthando Lodumo, the hit Showmax Original reality show about Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha’s marriage, is now available to binge. The first 10 episodes of the critically acclaimed Showmax Original epic African fantasy Blood Psalms are also available to binge. Showmax also has Season 1 of Mzansi Wethu’s Suxoka, a reality show about polygraph tests, hosted by 2022 SAFTA Most Popular Presenter nominee Thembisa Mdoda. The Showmax Originals Tali’s Joburg Diary and the crime drama Donkerbos are now streaming on Showmax.