I knew I was ready to move into podcasting – Tswyza on his career revival

For Kope “Tswyza” Makgae, reinvention was paramount when he exited Generations: The Legacy last year after playing fan-favourite Mrekza for eight years.

The 39-year-old actor found that career revival in his popular podcast The Tswyza Show, where he refreshingly interviews guests through freestyle rap. While it's billed as being “all about conversational flow,” the show invites artists to introduce themselves and respond to Tswyza’s questions in rhyme.

Having set the tone with his own freestyle, guiding the lyrical conversation with charisma and skill as his guests jump in with equally rhythmic responses with a vibe that's fresh, authentic, and distinctly South African, one tends to wonder what goes behind running such a show.

The show has featured a mix of emerging and established voices, including Landrose from Tembisa, Nomfundo Yekani from Thokoza, and local rap veteran N’veigh, who used his appearance to unpack how originality in hip-hop is shifting in this “new era.”

Was this how you envision your career to be?

This is definitely the path I hoped my career would take. Remember, I am part entertainer and part businessman. So, Tswyza would not suffice in a tie. Being known as Tswyza separates my personal entity. People can call me Mrekza or Tswyza, depending on how they know me. But Kope is more of a father, son, brother or a business associate.

When did you know you had to get into the podcasting space?  

I knew I was ready to move into this space [many years] ago because I somehow felt incomplete. I felt that there was more of me that I wanted people to see...

However, the bigger fight was the inner conflict that I kept having with myself. I'd often have self reflections where my inner voice would say to me: 'Listen dude, you know music resonates with you and you love it... and as an advocate of not being comfortable, you're not living your truth'.

I felt I was lacking faith [in myself], and I was conforming to the salary and good rep that I had... that original hunger of the person I wanted to be was no longer there. I knew I couldn't play Mrekza all my life. So, I chose to trust in God and dabble into this music thing– but my way.

Why have a show like this one? 

There's different facets to why I do this show. I've always wanted to have a podcast when it first came into the scene, my issue has always been people's concentration span, I also felt that it wasn't my time as I didn't know how I was going to go about it, and as an actor, I may be well known, I just found it daunting to approach musicians to collaborate.

Do you miss playing comical Mrekza?

I do miss my character and, when you look at other productions, you can tell that some characters are based on that iconic character. [My colleagues and I] used to laugh and say my only competitor is Presley Chweneyagae, who has now passed. His death truly hurt me because I thought that I would share the screen with him one day but [I guess] time isn't guaranteed.

What keeps you going?

One of the motivating factors that keep me going is figuring out how resourceful you can be. I believe we all are given opportunities but we have to find what it is that makes us unique. This podcast is going places. The viewership is growing. I've had people like Anthony Anderson and Jamie Foxx comment on the show. My hopes for the podcast is to create a compilation of all the episodes and turn them into one thing.

I also have a music festival taking place later this year, where all the interviewees will be performing on stage and, lastly, I will be dropping an album next month titled: The Best Album Ever. It features Mo Molemi and other interesting musicians in the game.

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