‘My First Year Of Isibaya I Earned Peanuts,’ Says Nomzamo

Nomzamo Mbatha has come a long way since she auditioned for Mtv Base’ Presenter Search back in 2012. The now seasoned actress is opening up about her first few years in the showbiz. ‘My first year of Isibaya I earned peanuts,’ says Nomzamo Mbatha.

Speaking at one of the Nedbank Talks for Success, Nomzamo says she wasn’t getting paid enough for the work she was putting in.

“First year at Isibaya I earned peanuts, but I was working hard. Most months my bank account was in a minus,” Nomzamo said to a shocked crowd. The Isibaya actress joked how she’d go to events knowing she didn’t even have a ‘black cent’ in her bank account but still walked like she had it.

“I was underpaid but I was overworked. The problem was there was a demand for this new girl (herself), ‘we want to book her for this’ but she was not available,” Nomzamo said. “The value of my time was undervalued. I couldn’t go out there and compensate the money I was losing out on.”

Nomzamo says it was only when she took a year off Isibaya to shoot her movie ‘Tell Me Sweet Something” and TV drama “Umlilo” that she understood the value of her time.

“Me just sitting here is costing me a good R35 000 and the opportunity cost and the  marginal activity was not balancing. “I went back to Isibaya and I said, ‘to compensate me for my time for me to say no to another gig, this is what I think my time is worth’,” she told the cheering crowd.