Siyasanga Papu of 'Gomora' on how Sonto’s favouritism made Pretty bitter

Gomora's Pretty may be one of TV's pettiest and most bitter women at the moment but the actress behind the character, Siyasanga Papu, has advised fans to give her a chance so they can see past the front and learn what made her “bitter Betty”.

Siyasanga's character doesn't have much going for her and so fans have concluded that she's jealous of her sister Onthatile and petty because she wants Thati's life.

In an interview with TshisaLIVE, Siyasanga said viewers would — at a later stage — get the opportunity to understand why Sonto treats Pretty so unfairly. She said she hoped that fans of Gomora at least understand that Pretty wasn't always the petty, bitter woman she comes across as.

“She is bitter, in fact on set we walk around calling her 'Bitter Betty'. There's nothing pretty about her hard shell, but actually she's all warm and squishy inside and she's very protective of her family.

“The thing is, a person doesn't get that way because of something small. I think something major needs to happen to a person to reach a point where one is so petty, bitter and always angry and always lashing out.”

The actress said she appreciated playing the character because it gave her an insight into how women end up being like Pretty.

“I love the fact that she's outspoken and that's probably the one thing we have in common. The pettiness worried me a lot though, because it takes a lot of you as a person, especially if you gonna play the character for a long time. However, I was drawn to her because I thought this is an honest story. There are people I've known that are very much like Pretty and I thought it would be nice to know where such a person is coming from.”

Siyasanga explained that she's known women like Pretty and the one thing they have in common is not setting the standard for how they deserve to be treated.

“There are many women who find themselves where Pretty is. One has to be honest first to herself because I think the first time she felt like people were not treating her the way she deserved, she didn't voice it out. She probably packed a little skaftin somewhere with all those feelings and bad memories but eventually that lil case explodes. That's where Pretty is right now.”

The latest example of how unfair Mam'Sonto is towards Pretty was seen earlier this week when Pretty was forced to confront Mam’Sonto about the change she made to her will to exclude Pretty and ensure that Thati inherits everything.