The Riveris just two episodes away from concluding its polarising fifth season. A season which will see some of our favourite original cast members bid farewell to the telenovela. This includes Hlomla Dandala as Zweli Dikana who has already bagged his latest acting job as he returns to theatre as part of the cast of Fences.
Moreover, Tango Ncetezo as Paulina is set to bid farewell to have beloved role as it is believed that her showdown with Angelina will result in her being shot and the identity of her child never being discovered. The aforementioned actors have not planned anything to celebrate having spent five years as part of the stellar cast.
However, Lawrence Maleka who plays the beloved role of Zolani Dlamini has shared his plans to celebrate bidding farewell to his beloved character with the help of his fans.
Lawrence Maleka’s plans for The River final episode
In light of the four episode countdown to the end of season five of The River, Lawrence Maleka took to Twitter to share how he plans to honour his five year stint as the beloved Zolani Dlamini. A breakout role for the broadcaster who before this role had not had any notable acting experience.
But unlike Lunga Tshabalala who received criticism for his acting when he was still on The River. Lawrence through watching veteran Sindi Dlathu quickly became a duo that many will miss after Zolani is killed off during their showdown against Mabutho.
As such, if numbers are to be believed, it seems that Thursday, 2 February 2023 will mark the season finale of season five. As such, Lawrence reached out to his Twitter followers to announce that he plans to host a final episode farewell watch party at an undisclosed location.
Stand a chance to win tickets to come watch the Finale of Zolani on The River in Jhb ! To be chosen post the best meme of Zolani with an original caption and use the #AnEraEndsZolanipic.twitter.com/yglzHfjlol
Those who are interested need to send their favourite memes or gifs of Lawrence as Zolani. A matter which was seemingly easy for his followers as they shared a number of their favourite memes. Most of them, which is no surprise, had included moments between his character and Dlathu’s character.
Moreover, it is sad that we will not see Zolani ever again on The River. A fact which is made sadder by the fact that the actor did not reveal why he was leaving the telenovela. Unlike Hlomla Dandala who was reported to have explained that:
Hlomla Dandala speaks on leaving The River
For five seasons, Hlomla Dandala has played Zweli Dikana, a police commissioner who is less than smart. Even worse when it comes to his wife, Lindiwe, as he has continually turned a blind eye to all her crimes despite his position in law enforcement.
The matter of his duplicity has been a sore point for most viewers when they are not fawning over the chemistry between the two as seen through the multitude of videos dedicated to the onscreen couple.
However, it seems that just like us, Dandala was tired of playing the character of the incompetent Police Commissioner. This is as during his recent interview with Newsroom Arika, Dandala broke his silence over leaving the telenovela by sharing in part his reason for leaving by stating that, “Generally what tends to happen with any career, is that if you stay in any character for long enough is that it is very difficult to then pivot anyway from it or to be perceived any other way.”
