Little cause for cheer as axed Generations star hits big 50

VETERAN actor Menzi Ngubane turned 50 on Thursday, but there was still no cause for a big celebration.

His status as a newly unemployed actor after 10 years on the soapie Generations made it hard for him to think of partying to mark the big day.

It has been nearly two weeks since Ngubane and 15 other actors on the show were sacked amid an unresolved labour dispute with the SABC and production house MMSV.

"Turning 50 is a big deal to anyone, but if it means me cancelling my birthday celebration to get what's rightfully mine, so be it," he said.

After days of mudslinging between actors and the producers of the show, Ngubane spoke for the first time about the challenges taking place behind the scenes. These included two health setbacks for the actor.

Last week, the creator of the show, Mfundi Vundla, said: "One of those actors almost had a stroke. He ended up at a private clinic with a blood clot on his brain. He had no medical insurance and I paid out of my back pocket ... He is alive today because I played a role in saving his life. I feel betrayed."

Vundla did not name Ngubane - who hopes to receive a kidney transplant soon - but just about everyone who works on the show knew to whom he was referring.

On Thursday, Ngubane hit back. He said he had been admitted to a private Johannesburg clinic in 2006 with blood clots on his brain. He did not have medical aid at the time so he borrowed money from a friend. The loan, he said, had since been repaid.

"He [Vundla] never paid for my bills," said Ngubane. "Does he not know that the truth has a way of revealing itself?"

Ngubane said it was at a 2003 meeting, also attended by Hollywood star Samuel L Jackson, that Vundla first approached him about the role of Sibusiso Dlomo, the gangster businessman Ngamla in Generations.

"I never auditioned for the role," said Ngubane, who was not struggling to get acting roles at the time.

Three years ago, the actor said, he was diagnosed with kidney failure, which requires him to have daily dialysis.

At some point, he said, Vundla told him he was "lucky" to have a job because no one would hire a "sick actor".

Ngubane said he had continued to work despite his illness, arriving on set every day at 7am and leaving around 6pm.

Because of his increasing weakness as a result of his treatment, Ngubane said, he would remain seated during the filming of scenes until the camera switched to him.

He did not expect favours and said he went to work fully prepared, knowing all his lines.

He was admitted to Helen Joseph Hospital in 2011 with kidney failure. Discharged on a Friday, the producers sent him a script that weekend and told him to be at work on Monday.

"I didn't complain. I was at work," said Ngubane, who first rose to fame in the late '80s as Cijimpi in the TV drama series Kwakhala Nyonini.

He described a recent incident when his Generations character had to smash a table with an axe in a violent rage.

After the third take, the axe went right through the table and cut a deep wound in a knee.

"A professional, I continued to act despite feeling the blood gushing down my leg," he said.

After the scene, he was told by the producers to go to the sickbay to get "bandaged". He was told he could go to hospital only after filming wrapped that day.

Ngubane, who is allergic to fish, said he was once exposed to it during a meal served to the cast. His lip swelled but he was told to carry on working because viewers would not notice it.

He admitted that he received his salary when he was off sick.

"I did get paid during my illness, but Mfundi kept reminding me that I'm lucky to have a job because no one would pay a sick actor," said Ngubane.

Last week, Vundla and a string of production bigwigs lashed out at demands made by some actors. Among them were requests for personal trainers, bodyguards and dieticians.

Sophie Ndaba, one of the show's longest-serving actresses , said a dietician had been requested because some actors had health issues and required special meals.

"I am diabetic and they keep making Queen [her Generations character] eat ice cream on set. All I had asked for was a healthier equivalent."

mbeleg@sundaytimes.co.za