Nyaniso Dzedze set to shake things up with new role on Skeem Saam

Actor Nyaniso Dzedze is more than certain that his new role on Skeem Saam will capture the hearts of many.

Dzedze is set to play the role of a “good-hearted” Nkosi, who is all about being morally correct even when it comes to punishing people. The show will also move to a new 7.30pm timeslot.

The cherry on top of the new adjustments is the additional new faces, including Dzedze, Themba Manganyi and Brendan Maphake. 

“Acting allows me to feel different things where at times there isn’t space for me to feel them… I'm grateful that I get to go through another man’s heart and narrate to many watching,” he told Sowetan SMag.

“Acting allows me to embody many facets of myself and it also gives me the opportunity to be loved for it.”

The 37-year-old said being on the local drama series was an honour as it would help him inspire more young boys from disadvantaged or troubled backgrounds with the “morally inclined” Nkosi.

Dzedze continues to explain that the show, set in the rural village of Turfloop, outside Polokwane, Limpopo, was a great platform for him to showcase what men are and what they look like in different positions in life. 

“I’ve done many roles on TV and most of them are as a bad guy than a good guy, so this role is going to be a refreshing experience,” he said. 

“My first episode will air in the second week of February. Nkosi will show viewers what it’s like to have a backbone and not be intimidated by Lehasa [Cedric Fourie]. When their two worlds collide, viewers will get to see Lehasa account for his sins but not how people expect,” Dzedze revealed.

Dzedze also embodies the new role of a cop, Khumalo on Netflix's series Soon Comes Night, which follows a liberation hero turned heist king and a broken apartheid cop, Alex Shabane played by Kwenzo Ngcobo, who is seeking redemption.

“It was my first time shooting a project with Netflix… which makes it even more exciting. It’s like I made my landmark with this role. I also have something that might be coming up in a few months that I’m also excited about," he said.

The former Ashes to Ashes actor also breathes life into a course that sees him using his voice and platform to help end gender-based violence through upskilling young boys and men by conducting virtual classes on his platform Vela Tata and as well as holding talks in Craighall Park, Johannesburg. 

“My biggest wounds are about fatherhood and that trauma has affected how I experience everything in my life. Since this realisation, I’ve started to see the things that hurt my dad in myself, which has helped me not to go down the same path he chose or the decisions he made.

“When I saw what he went through, I asked myself, ‘How can I successfully thrive in life and make better choices’? That’s when I began a new journey of healing. I do emotional and therapy work and evaluate what happens in one’s mind.”

Dzedze's stance on upskilling and empowering young boys to become "stand-up men" stems from his trauma of abandonment as young as two years old. 

"All my life I’d myself the question: ‘What made my father leave me?’. Now as an adult, I tend to go through some things and I’m like: ‘Oh, is this the reason he left?’,” he said.

“Another thing is, yes, he left my mom but why didn’t he invest in him and I? This is why I’m giving specific attention to boys and young men.

"I want them to know there’s nothing wrong with being vulnerable but to also hold their own and own up to anything that they do. Me doing this doesn’t take away the importance of building and protecting the girl child, just that boys more often boys are being neglected and usually have a shadow cast over them.”