By Rorisang Modiba
- Lwazie Keith Tsebesha, who plays Sara Gomora in Netflix’s The Polygamist, says local viewers already knew her from Scandal! and Ithonga.
- Tsebesha describes her career as moving like an escalator, slowly but surely, across productions including Lobola Lami and ISphiwo.
Lwazie Keith Tsebesha has been on South African screens for years. Netflix just made more people notice.
The actress plays Sara Gomora in The Polygamist, the 22-episode drama now streaming on Netflix and based on Sue Nyathi’s bestselling novel. The show follows Jonasi Gomora, a wealthy businessman whose secrets begin pulling his life apart. Sara is one of the people caught in the wreckage.
It is a role that has drawn wide attention. But for viewers who watched Scandal! on eTV or Ithonga on Mzansi Magic, Tsebesha is not a new face.
“While many may regard this as my breakout role on a global scale, locally it is not my first major introduction to audiences,” she said.
Her career started with a love of dramatic arts in high school. It grew slowly through theatre, then into television, through productions including ISphiwo, Ha Molefi, Maboneng, Lobola Lami and Ithonga, where she played Amahle. On Scandal!she was Mpumi.
She describes the journey with a particular kind of clarity.
“My career has progressed steadily much like an escalator, slowly but surely,” she said.
The industry, she says, taught her that not every opportunity is meant for her. That lesson shaped how she approached Sara, a character she describes as layered, wounded and deeply human.
“I had to approach her with empathy rather than judgment. I spent a lot of time understanding what drives her actions and the emotional needs behind them,” she said.
The Polygamist explores infidelity, emotional neglect and the cost of buried secrets. Tsebesha believes those themes land because they are not unfamiliar.
“Issues such as infidelity, family conflict and emotional neglect exist in many communities. While the story is fictional, it reflects conversations that many families have either experienced or witnessed,” she said.
She hopes viewers leave Sara’s story thinking about growth, accountability and the weight of the choices people make inside a family.
Pictured above: Lwazie Keith Tsebesha, who plays Sara Gomora in Netflix’s The Polygamist.
Image source: Supplied
