Susan's distant cousin Konanani Mudau debuts on Muvhango this week and she's carrying so much baggage she'd have to pay extra at the airport if she wanted to fly.
She's played by Takalani Phophi and she arrives at the royal house to find refuge and reconnect with Vhutshilo, her stepson - she was married to Rudzani Mudau.
Here's a close-up on her character by the Muvhango writers...
Konanani Mudau was kicked out of her home when her husband died. She's learnt to mask her feelings over the years, so no one can see the bitterness and vengefulness that she internalises having lost everything.
Initially, she is timid and grateful to the Vhakwevho for taking her in. But her manipulation, cunning and ruthless ambition soon comes to the fore. She wants her stepson to reclaim the Mudau inheritance that is due to him.
Konanani was born and bred in Venda to staunch conservative parents. She was a typical Venda girl, docile, and did everything she was told to do. So it even surprised her and her family when she defied the marriage they were arranging for her and ran away to marry Rudzani Mudau, a man she had fallen madly in love with.
When her parents found out, they told her it was her decision and she shouldn’t come running back should things not work out.
Little did Konanani know she would wish to return over and over, as the Mudau family were never welcoming. They were an educated family with wealth and were shocked when Rudzani came home with a poor, uneducated girl from a non-descript family.
While the women simply gave her the cold shoulder and reminded her often that she’d never be one of them, the men openly despised her.
Konanani endured all of this because Rudzani loved her as much as she loved him. He provided a home for them that became her safe haven and she longed for the day she would give him a son, hoping it would endear her to his family.
To her dismay and to add insult to injury for the Mudaus, she couldn’t conceive. They despised her more. Rudzani didn’t mind that she couldn't have children and they adopted a young baby boy born under unusual circumstances, i.e. Vutshilo.
Over the years, she learnt to mask her true feelings from her enemies and internalised her pain and hatred for the Mudau family. Her gender resctricted her culturally and her bitterness grew each year.
She poured her heart and soul into her son Vutshilo. She was ambitious and had been behind many of Rudzani’s business dealings.
Life dealt her another blow when Rudzani died and she was duly kicked out by his family. Her son, Vutshilo, was also taken from her by the Mudau’s to be given back to the royal family, his biological family.
The Vhadau have thrown her out of her home and stripped her of everything she built with Rudzani. She arrives to reconnect with Vhutshilo in the Royal house and mend their estranged relationship and gradually she ...