Eighteen years into the industry Manaka Ranaka still graces our screens with her talent every weekday as Lucy on Generations – The Legacy, but had it not been for her fighting spirit, her stint on SABC 3’s Isidingo could have been her last.
Manaka Ranaka made headlines after she was rumoured to have been fired from Isidingo for being pregnant, the actress who played the role of Nandipha on the soapie was released from her contract after disclosing her pregnancy to her employers. Speaking to DJ Fresh in a recent interview on Metro FM, Manaka spoke her truth.
“It was very painful, it was my first job, I didn’t want to be a penny less mother, I was already working, I didn’t see anything wrong that I had done. Although I was young, I waited till I was working, so when it came, the excitement did not make me feel the pain, it was sore, but I could not wait to meet K.G, so I had a very healthy pregnancy despite what had happened but it’s not a nice thing to go through, it follows you 18-years down the line, it’s still following me.”
According to Manaka, she and her agent had proposed a storyline to fit her reality, however, they decided to use it on Hlubi Mboya who later took over the role.
“I gave them a storyline and they decided to use it on Hlubi, so somebody didn’t want me there, when we first told them with my agent, they were ok about it, there was even a water tank in the studio and a couch, and then two weeks later they changed their minds.”
Explaining her fallout with the soapie Manaka said:
“They used the clause of injury, you can’t warn somebody that you’re gonna be in an accident that’s gonna put you in a wheelchair, there’s a clause like that in the contract, so they used that clause, I fought back by working extremely hard and I said, Imma show them, I’m gonna come back.’
Source: Zalebs
