“He was treating us like children.” These were the words of Rami Chuene, who quit Sello Maake ka-Ncube’s Drama Queen: The Lebo Mathosa Show a week before it ended its run. Speaking to City Press, the veteran actress added: “He clearly didn’t trust me and his doctor confirmed my illness, but he still wasn’t having it. That same day when he did that to me, I knew it was time for me to leave that show, and I did.”

She was referring to an ongoing fight about her arriving late to rehearsals, despite an apparent understanding that she had to balance commitments to a television series. It’s just the latest salvo in the mudslinging between ka-Ncube and cast of the ill-fated musical show, which closed after a month of disappointing attendance figures. Unofficial reports suggest that some nights the show attracted as few as nine audience members.

The director clashed with most of his performers, this past week even berating them in Drum magazine. City Press revealed more of the friction during the show, quoting an anonymous dancer who said he “swore at the cast and threw his toys out the cot when things didn’t go his way. He used to scream at people and say we are disrespecting him. Once he even said to us ‘hambani niyonya’ (go s**t yourselves).”

In another clash, ka-Ncube allegedly reprimanded Sindi Nene for being on her phone while he spoke to her, warning that she did not respect him and would not go far in the industry. And Khanyi Mbau, one of the actresses portraying the late Lebo Mathosa in the show, infamously quit in the final week, opting to focus on promoting her book instead.

City Press spoke to ka-Ncube, who was less than complimentary of his former cast: “Do you know how supportive I was of them? It’s the people who are not part of my cast who are tarnishing my name and are saying all these things.”

By James Francis