King Nqoba: Playing dad is an eye-opener

Tshwane comedian King Nqoba Ngcobo dreams of growing his career, himself and tomatoes… And this single dad is tasting the fruits already.

It’s been a year of no sleep, gigs and surviving – and working hard at being the best dad for his 15-year-old daughter.

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And the 43 year old of e.tv soapie Backstage-fame is protective: her name stays secret – his love for her not.

“This year has been something else in terms of the amount of work I had to get through, the projects that worked out and the projects that didn’t work out and how much it takes to invest in yourself,” he says. “I can’t wait to take a breather.”

Ngcobo says it’s sometimes easy to forget to take a break and spend time with the people who matter most.

“I’m a single parent, so I do what I have to do because there is no backup or anything.” Ngcobo says he is honoured to be a single dad because he knows how important his role is.

“It is important for little girls to see their dads and I see the impact it makes in my daughter’s life when I sit next to her at the doctor’s office or something like that.

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“Those moments build a relationship you can’t buy. You have to be actively involved,” he says. But it isn’t easy.

“I make a lot of mistakes… to be a great parent you need to have an open and honest relationship with your child,” he says.

But he walks the extra mile: when his daughter started school in Tshwane, he learnt a new language, sePitori, a mixture of Afrikaans, Sesotho, Sepedi, Setswana, English and isiZulu, and different slang terms and meanings, used by people from Pretoria townships.

“She taught me to be more honest because girls go through so much emotionally. “I didn’t realise how heavy the bullying in schools can be, or how difficult adjusting to a new city can be for a child,” he says.

Ncobo had a tough time as a comedian, too. “Last year, I worked harder than I have ever worked before. At the beginning of the year, a big project I worked on flopped, so I had to say yes to everything that came my way to ensure I made it through the year, because being a freelancer means there are no guarantees.”

And he’s “a soft and lovely person”, who had to protect himself against people in the business who were not lovely.

“I can tell you horrible stories of venues that still owe me money and the difficult situations you have to deal with.

“The only thing you can do is keeping on going, because at the end of the day, you fight many battles and make all your arguments – but at what cost?” he asks.

That’s why he had to choose his battles wisely. He has grown through those battles, but that’s not the only growth that lights up his eyes.

When he isn’t on stage hosting a comedy show at his favourite private club, he is working in his garden in the Moot. “Don’t tell people I love gardening, it’s awkward.

I love a Kalahari orchard. It only flowers once a year. And aloes and white roses – white roses always work.” It was the increase in the price of tomatoes that got him going.

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“I decided to plant some seeds and when they came up, it tasted better than the tomatoes I bought from the store.

“It got me thinking about how much other stuff tastes better than what I was buying from the shops. I realised that if I put in a little effort, I can enjoy it more,” he says.

His love for plants started with baby tomatoes sprouting in a 5-litre plastic container – and the rest was history.

“Once those seeds started growing, I was hooked. Every time someone comes to visit, I tell them, ‘Just taste my tomatoes’,” he says.

He also wants to grow the comedy industry and dreams of selling out Times Square Arena. “I want to host a comedy show. I live in Tshwane and I want to do it one way or the other.

I want to expose Pretoria’s talent to Pretoria. I want us to laugh together as a city, whether you are black, white, Indian or mixed masala,” he says.

He, of course, is “a coloured person”, born in the Eastern Cape to a Xhosa mother and a Zulu father from KwaZulu-Natal.

Apart from comedy, Ngcobo works as a master of ceremonies – but considers himself an entrepreneur: “If you pay me, I will gladly do it – even dancing, as I’m a proud bad dancer”.