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Mbane's great juggling act

Lusanda Mbane is able to juggle all the tasks in her plate with ease. Picture credit: SUPPLIED
Lusanda Mbane is able to juggle all the tasks in her plate with ease. Picture credit: SUPPLIED

Leading lady Lusanda Mbane has got it all - a loving husband, adorable kids, posh corporate job and stardom.

What is even more impressive is that the latest addition to Scandal! has managed the almost impossible task of juggling her arduous corporate job and her equally demanding acting career.

Mbane has just joined the e.tv soapie as Boniswa, the wife to Hlomla Dandala's character Kingsley and arch-rival to Kgomotso Christopher's role Yvonne.

"For the longest time I have been torn between corporate and entertainment ... knowing that entertainment is my first love, but also having corporate really paying the bills.

"So 2016 is the year that I'm finding myself," Mbane observes.

The 37-year-old actress has a BCom Marketing degree and has never had any formal acting training.

She learned through her break-out role on Generations in 2011, playing sassy businesswoman and Kenneth Mashaba (Sputla Sebogodi)'s love interest. Mbane earned more street cred in SABC1 sitcom Abo Mzala, sharing some screen time with Salamina Mosese and Nomsa Buthelezi.

But that is just half of her illustrious résumé.

She is currently the head of marketing at a telecommunication company and, in addition, she's the MD of her own recruitment agency, a voice-over artist as well as an MC/event facilitator.

"I have always had to settle for roles that can't take me away from my work for about maximum a week because that's acceptable to corporate. You can't be telling people that marketing is on hold because our head is on TV.

"So anything that required more than that I was not open to it. I have always told my agent that," Mbane explains.

"Then last year, I chose to explore more because I got lucky enough to get a marketing role where I was heading up a department, but they were OK with just having some hours of my time just to give strategy and direction. Needless to say, Scandal! happened."

What's even more fascinating is that in achieving the elusive work-life balance, the Eastern Cape-born star makes it all look effortless.

When Mbane arrives for our interview she is not showing any strain at all.

She looks ready for spring as she greets me with a sunshine smile, while wearing a bright-hued acid orange bodycon dress, hugging her in all the right places.

It's her day off from shooting Scandal! but her make-up and hair appears flawless as if she's just walked off a film set.

So what does an average day for Mbane look like?

"I thrive on not knowing how any of my days can possibly look like. I wake up, I go to the gym and then go to the office for three to four hours.

"Over lunch, I do a voice-over. I may run back to the office. In the evening I may MC an event. Then the late shift starts when I start catching up on my work.

"The next day I might be going at 5am to go shoot Scandal! But no two days are the same. It's organised chaos and I love it," Mbane paints the picture.

"You know what's great about acting? It allows you to be an entrepreneur because when you are waiting in the green room to do your scenes you are writing a business proposal."

Mbane is not just bringing bacon home, she is frying it too. She has been married to business analyst Luzuko Mbane for 11 years.

They are proud parents of a boy and a girl.

She was born and raised in Butterworth, Eastern Cape. She was raised by a single mother who worked as a nurse. She has an older sister, whom she regards as her best friend.

"My husband is very private. We made the decision from the word go that I'm the TV person and he's not. He is fully supportive, but from a distance. I made the decision to keep my kids out of that space too," she maintains.

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