New city, who dis?
Gqeberha isn’t big enough for these girlbosses! Meet The Real Housewives’s new fab five.
The Real Housewives Of Gqeberha Season 1 Fridays (from 3 February) 1Magic (*103) 20:30
The Real Housewives Of Durban sashay back onto our screens on Wednesday, 1 February. But just moments behind them – and ready to push their coastal city sisters down the stairs if they get too slow – come a new batch of Housewives. Gqeberha’s queens of the social scene are here to turn looks, heads and the conversation in their direction. While more ladies will join the scene, here are our core five…
ASHLEIGH MATHER
With an Instagram handle like @mrs2_mather and a tag like Boy Mom, Ashleigh is leaning into the Housewives gig. But there’s more to the youngest Housewife than just packing lunchboxes – like being a TikTok queen whose family own two of Gqeberha’s biggest nightclubs. Plus, her husband is DJ, musician and producer Raymond Mather. Are the other Housewives ready for what happens when Mrs Mather lets her hair down?
UNATHI FAKU
Make way for Gqeberha royalty! Unathi is part of a power couple with her husband Nceba Faku, the city’s former mayor. This jetsetting gym bunny is a mother of twin daughters and a son who’s taller than Mommy, a salon owner and actress – with a starring role in the Jahmil X.T. Qubeka film The Queenstown Kings, which is set for release in 2023 – and she was 2013’s Mrs Port Elizabeth. Her Instagram (@una.faku) showcases family and fitness rather than Fendi and furs, and her Housewives bio asks, “Will she be able to let her guard down with the other ladies?”
NORMA NICOL
By day she’s an events planner at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium so it’s formal blazers and skirts. By night, she’s fabulous. The husband? Ghanaian royalty. The purse? Michael Kors. The shoes? Red bottoms in that walk-in wardrobe. A proud wife and mother of two – she calls herself a dance mom on Instagram (@norma_nicol_) – Norma knows how to treat herself right. She notes on her Facebook account, “Sometimes, this is the best I can do to always keep going: Take yourself out, enjoy yourself”. Will anyone dare come for her throne?
LIZ PRINS
Newly widowed construction project manager, socialite and marathon runner, Liz has three daughters and a fortune after selling her company for eight figures. You can spot her anywhere from the Chicago Marathon, to pre-Fashion Week fittings with local designers, to lunching with a certain male model and socialite as she gives her Louis Vuitton purse a workout. According to her Housewives bio, “Her heart might be in the right place, but will her words land her in hot water with the group?” Liz is familiar with the phrase Main Character Energy and likes to sit at the head of the table.
BULI G NGOMANE
It’s not “what does she do?” with Buli. The real question is what can’t she do! This unflappable singer (and 2002 Idols finalist), MC, radio and TV presenter, and producer is the managing director of PR company Rhizome Creative and (like Norma – they’re both worked for Mandela Bay Stadium), she’s an events manager. On her Instagram (@buli.g), you can snoop into her brand deals with wines, hotels and spas. All eyes turn to this hyperconnected social butterfly when she enters a room, but will her light cast some other Housewives in the shade? PS: She’s the only one of the Housewives who’s leaving comments and compliments on all the other ladies’ social pages…
Grab your purse, your hat and your pearls as these House-wives blow into the Windy City!