Actress Gail Mabalane is gearing up to captivate viewers once again, this time as Phello Mohapi, the lead detective at the centre of SABC2’s brand-new telenovela Pimville.
Known for her compelling performances and her ability to breathe life into layered female characters, Mabalane says this latest role is one of her most exciting and demanding yet.
Detective Phello Mohapi is a Kasi-born, family-oriented woman who carries an invisible cape, determined to “save the world” even when the world pushes back.
A departure from previous cop roles
Though she’s played the role of a detective in the past, Mabalane told Sunday World that this iteration is different: gritty, grounded, and deeply rooted in the lived realities of black South Africans.
“This show goes in-depth into the issues the police face and the issues the community faces. You get to experience first-hand what it’s like spending hours and hours at a police station, solving cases, and feeling the pressure from communities who want answers.”
Filmed inside an actual police station, the story doesn’t shy away from portraying the strain, frustration, and emotional weight that detectives carry. For Mabalane, witnessing real people come open cases while she worked on set was eye-opening.
Sobering first-hand experience
“As South Africans, we can be very impatient and judgmental about the police, but being here every day, I see what they actually go through,” she says.
The character is also a proudly multi-dimensional woman; a loving wife, sister, and friend, navigating the complexities of being a Black woman in a society that still measures women’s worth by marriage and motherhood.
Mabalane says she resonated deeply with that tension. “There are women who don’t want kids, who can’t have kids, who don’t want to be married, it doesn’t make them any less of a woman. As storytellers, we have a responsibility to portray that truth authentically.”
Though the role comes with intense demands, long hours, fast-paced scenes, and a storyline that moves like a high-octane 13-part series despite being a telenovela, Mabalane says she’s embracing the challenge.
Life imitating art; art imitating life
To keep up, she’s been hitting the gym at 4 a.m., balancing motherhood, marriage, training, and filming. A silver lining is that this production is based in Johannesburg, allowing her to return home to her children each day. “That family element is where Phehelo and I meet,” she said warmly.
For Mabalane, Pimville also represents something bigger: a globally worthy South African story told with heart, texture, and truth.
“Our content deserves to be seen and awarded internationally. What I love about Pimville is its authenticity; nothing beats authenticity,” she says.
Set in Soweto and rooted in Kasi life, Pimville promises to showcase the township in a fresh, wholesome and richly human way.
