Meet the stars of Netflix's upcoming South African series: Zola Nombona, Rorisang Mohapi and Thando Thabethe
Actress Thando Thabethe is starring in two Netflix series: "Love and Wine" and "How to Ruin Love: The Lobola"
Image: Supplied
This December, Netflix will be releasing two new South African series, “How to Ruin Love: The Lobola” and the new “Love and Wine,” and both productions feature some of Mzansi’s top actors.
Actress Thando Thabethe is one busy woman, always working; she features in both productions.
The award-winning actress returns to her role as Beauty in “How to Ruin Love: The Lobola.” Additionally, in the new series “Love and Wine,” she takes on the character of Lena, a wine manager who navigates the complexities of the "Love and Wine" establishment in many "complicated, beautiful ways," according to Thabethe.
“Love and Win” also features actress Rorisang Mohapi, who stars as Lala, who opens up the show. “Lala is quite free-spirited; she's fun, loves a good time. She wants her prince charming and she doesn't get her prince charming, but she's willing to just go out there and look for him,” shared Mohapi
The “How to Ruin” franchise has certainly grown. Thabethe began her role in the three-season series "How to Ruin Christmas" in 2020. She then appeared in the Burnt Onion Productions spinoff "How To Ruin Love: The Proposal" in 2024.
“It's beautiful to see it grow, the way it has, and to see it's sort of taking on many forms,” said Thabethe. She shared that portraying her character Beauty is fun on "How To Ruin Love: The Lobola" as she isn’t involved in the drama.
“I get to see other people's love entanglements and it's not Beauty's problems. Beauty's just looking on the outside, saying, ‘This is how you behave’.”
“How to Ruin Love” The Lobola” welcomes a new addition to the cast, actress Zola Nombona as Kazi. This is Nombona’s Netflix debut and it sees her returning to comedy.
“Kazi is a very interesting character. I’m very excited to be in the comedy space again. Really love it. Burnt Onion is a production company that I've always wanted to work with. They've done incredible work to be part of their team right now in this cast.
Nombona shared that this character is different from what she’s done before, as Kazi is out there, she loves attention, she’s blonde and all over the place.
TV is an excellent way to tell stories of African cultural practices, such as lobola and Nombona loves that “How to Ruin Love: The Lobola” packages it in a manner that brings light to the situation.
“How to Ruin Love” The Lobola” welcomes a new addition to the cast, actress Zola Nombona as Kazi.
Image: Supplied
“There's lots of drama with lobola, so it was really fun to tackle this very sometimes intense topic, but we envelop it obviously with the warmth of family. Two families coming together is very important. So us playing into that space is something that I'm really excited about.”
“How to Ruin Love: The Lobola” premieres globally on Netflix on December 11, 2025.
“Love and Wine” premieres globally on Netflix on December 5, 2025.
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