Zolisa Xaluva clears the air on ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ exit rumours

Actor Zolisa Xaluva has denied reports that he’s been dismissed from e.tv’s Smoke & Mirrors after only spending one season with the telenovela.

“My season one contract ended; as it stands I have no contractual obligations with them,” Xaluva, who portrays the character of Caesar Ngonyama on the show told The Citizen on Thursday morning.

Smoke & Mirrors made its television debut earlier this year after the end of Imbewu. The storyline revolves around Thandiswa (portrayed by Ayanda Bandla) who is on a mission to expose three morally corrupt men in the small mining town of Emnyameni.

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Xaluva’s character, a ruthless businessman, is one of the three corrupt men in the story.

“Negotiations are still ongoing for season two” said Xaluva.

“Dismissed and fired are not the correct words to describe the situation. As soon as there is any finality I’ll be glad to pick up the conversation again.”

The actor didn’t want to describe the situation as a breakdown in negotiations but rather stating that “we haven’t reached a stalemate”.

The Citizen had not received a response from the production house, Final Chapter, at the time of publishing, but in a report by Sunday World producers of the show confirmed Xaluva’s departure in a statement.

“At the onset of the new season of Smoke & Mirrors, the producers of Final Chapter Productions came to a resolution to amicably part ways with Zolisa Xaluva,” averred the statement.

“Zolisa has been an asset to the show in his role as Caesar Ngonyama, and we wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavours.”

When The Citizen questioned the actor about the production house’s utterances, Xaluva insisted that “negotiations are still ongoing. It’s an intense negotiation”.

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Other endeavours

Xaluva, who has played memorable roles such as Jason in Generations, Diamond Mabuza in The Queen and Mogotsi Masire in Kings of Jo’burg, was more keen to speak about his latest project,  Queenstown Kings breaking through Netflix’s global Top 10 films.  “It’s the first African film to do so,” said an excited Xaluva.

The movie is centred around a low-level soccer team from the township and its journey from playing in the dusty fields in their townships to facing well-established top-level soccer teams in big stadiums.

Xaluva plays the character of Buyile Mahamba a washed-up soccer star, who after the death of his father, returns to rural Queenstown and struggles to connect with his son, a promising player with big dreams.

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