Safta award as good as in the bag for Baloyi

As telenovela DiepCity is set to leave our screens in March, its star Obed Baloyi aims to go out in style with a gong in his hand.

DiepCity, which is on Mzansi Magic, is currently shooting its last scenes and wrapping up its last season.

The seasoned stage and TV actor who plays the role of Ringo is nominated in the SA Film and Television Awards (Safta) this weekend.

He is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor in a Telenovela category, where he is up against Abdul Khoza, Jack Devnarain, Seputla Sebogodi and Don Mlangeni-Nawa. For Baloyi it  is not the first time he is nominated in a supporting role. In 2013 he won a gong for his role as Tsutsuma in Ga Re Dumele, a name that has stuck with him. As he chats to Time Out, Baloyi admits that he would love to win a Safta award again.

“I am nominated with some of the industry greats. These are people whose talents I admire. I mean, I looked up to people like Seputla and Bra Don, who are veterans in the industry. Being nominated with them means that I am also a great actor. I used to see Bra Don while I was taking acting classes at DOCC in Orlando. If I win it,  it will really mean that I have worked hard for it and I deserve it.”

Baloyi says in his career that spans for 32 years, he has never enjoyed playing a role like the one he is currently depicting in DiepCity. Some of the scenes he has shot for the show have become a hit on TikTok. One of them is where he plays a stripper and tells his friend about how great it was to entertain women, adding "emhlabeni  kumnandi". 

Since then, people have been referring to him as Emhlabeni Kumnandi. “I can’t believe that two people gave me money because of that episode. A guy showed me the video and gave me R500. Last week, another one gave me R100 just for that scene. I’m grateful to such people.

“When I read about my character for the first time I simply fell in love with him. I enjoyed being part of the show because I worked closely with my friend Hamilton Dhlamini. We have been friends for years but we are working together for the first time. We took our offscreen friendship to the story.”

Baloyi is not thrilled that a great story will soon die as he defines DiepCity as a true reflection of who we are as South Africans and people can relate to it.

“It is sad that it is ending. I felt that the show needs another chance. I worked hard to build that role from scratch. It is not child’s play to build a character. After portraying Tsutsuma for years, I made sure Ringo is totally different from him. It hurts that when you tell people that the show is ending and they can't believe it.”

Baloyi defines himself as a simple guy from Diepkloof Zone 4, who does not see himself as a celebrity. The actor, who lives in Vlakfontein, in the south of Johannesburg, says most people know his house.

“I'm that kind of a guy. People regard me as a comedian but I am not. I’m a people’s person.”

Baloyi started acting in high school at Shingwedzi High School, in Malamulele, Limpopo. When he returned to Johannesburg, he was fortunate to be taught acting by the likes of Darlington Michaels at DOCC in Soweto.

From then he formed Mangava Drama group and wrote the play Ga Mchangani, which was staged at the Market Theatre Laboratory Zwakala Community Festival, where it won. In 1999, his play, Via Soweto, was staged at the Barney Simon Young Directors Festival. He has appeared in shows like Emzini Wezinsizwa, Yizo Yizo 3, Heartlines, A Place Called Home, High Rollers, Isibaya, Izoso Connexion, and Mzee wa Two Six,  among others.