V-Mash Is Back!

Vinolia Mashego opens up about her return to the small screen and her son’s showbiz plans

- Khosi Biyela

SHE knows what it’s like to bounce back. After battling to find work for 13 years, Vinolia Mashego slipped into a spiralling depression.

There were rumours she couldn’t afford to pay her rent, tabloids reported she’d assaulted someone, and who can forget the time she was fired for allegedly parading naked in a block of flats in Pretoria?

But she’s put the dark days behind her and things are looking up.

“I’m better now. I’ve been getting jobs and I have my own house,” Vinolia (56) tells us proudly.

Known as V-Mash from her days as a popular presenter for SABC’s hit music show Jam Alley, the veteran entertainer is back on the small screen and winning new fans for her role in Giyani: Land of Blood.

Vinolia plays Kwinana, a dejected divorcée who must pick up the pieces of a broken life after her wealthy husband leaves her for their domestic worker.

It’s a storyline that’s hit close to home. She knows what it’s like to start over again.

“Kwinana’s husband chased her out and she’s left with only her clothes. I’ve been there with my ex-fiancé, who also abused me.”

She slipped into depression and was hospitalised after that relationship, but Vinolia doesn’t want to dwell on the past. She’d much rather chat about her passion. “I started in the industry as a musician but acting has always been my first love.”

The actress, who also starred in Generations, is thrilled to be working on the SABC2 drama series.

Although she initially auditioned for Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s role, it turns out she and Kwinana have a lot in common.