After weeks of negotiations and trying to reach a resolution, e-TV has not renewed Zolisa Xaluva's contract on the telenovela, Smoke & Mirrors.

NOT AGREEING

After reports that Zolisa had been dismissed by the production company following a "money-related dispute" with the production, he cleared the air with ZiMoja saying he had not been dismissed and that in fact, he was almost done with his season two contractual negotiations. Zolisa had been waiting for his fate on whether he would be continue to season two. He confirmed this to ZiMoja but after much back and forth a decision was made not to renew his contract. "Some may call it being fired but his contract is not being renewed. The company wants him to only work for them and not on other productions and he was questioning that clause in the contract," an e-TV insider said. "He knows his value, which to some people may seem arrogant, but he is a gentleman, and he is not desperate. The company wouldn't agree to some of his terms, and they parted ways, simple as that."

REPLACED

Taking over the role of ruthless businessman, Caesar who Zolisa played diligently, is seasoned actor Hlomla Dandala. An insider has revealed to ZiMoja that Hlomla will be starting to shoot for season two. "He is not coming in as another ruthless character who kills Caesar. He is coming in as Caesar Ngonyama and taking over from Zolisa. Tricky ne?" the insider reveals. "He will be playing the role of Caesar and people will always try and compare them. That is something we need to brace ourselves for."

CHANGING ROLES

Hlomla left The River where he played the part of a police commissioner Zweli Dikana after he felt his role had taken a different direction which was no longer serving his love for acting. "What tends to happen, with any career, if you stay in any character for long enough, it's very difficult to pivot away from it then or to be perceived in any other way," he said in an interview. "If you've established yourself as a leading man and you play something that establishes you as being quite weaker, if you don't get out of that fast enough, it gets harder and harder." He felt it was stunting his growth. "I was happy with the character for a long, long time, and then after a while, we started growing further and further apart in terms of creativity, and then it reached a point where I said I needed to manage my career," he said. "Part of that is I don't want to get locked into a situation that I don't want to be in the long term. It starts to damage your future as an actor."