Giving It My All

Skeem Saam’s Pebetsi Nolo Matlaila had never dreamt of being on TV but when the opportunity came her way she tackled it with her usual gusto – and it turned her into an instant star.

- Hopewell Mpapu

THREE-and-a-half years ago she was sleeping on rat-infested floors, not knowing where her next meal was coming from. By day she would strap her baby to her back and go door to door begging for a job so she could scrape a few rands together to feed her daughter.

But fate was smiling on Pebetsi Nolo Matlaila: her months of hardship had a fairytale ending – and now the whole of Mzansi knows who this beautiful young woman is.

The Skeem Saam actress has wormed her way into viewers’ hearts as young mother Mokgadi Maputla, a woman who will do anything to find the son her mother gave up for adoption.

It’s a storyline that resonates well with Pebetsi (30), who remembers a time when protecting her daughter at all costs was her only goal.

Hers is a story of adversity, abuse and disappointment – and one that will give hope to others who think they will never emerge from the darkness into the light.

“There was a time when I would have my daughter’s porridge for dinner, breakfast and lunch because I didn’t have money to buy food for myself,” she says. “But I always ensured that my child had food.”

Pebetsi wasn’t born into a life of struggle. The daughter of two teachers, BB and Sewela Matlaila, she grew up in Polokwane, Limpopo, wanting for nothing. However, desperate to escape a destructive relationship, she said goodbye to her comfortable life and arrived in the City of Gold. She soon realised nothing was going to come easy.

But thanks to a lot of resilience and a little help from Lady Luck she turned things around. Here is her story.

IN THE BEGINNING 

Pebetsi went to some of the best schools in Limpopo and matriculated from Capricorn High School in Polokwane.