'Umjolo: Day Ones' Ending Explained & Film Summary: What Happens To Andile And Zanele?

Umjolo: Day Ones follows the lives of Andile and Zanele, two best friends who were close to each other back in the day when everybody felt that they were going to get married to each other. But nothing of that sort happened, and Andile went on and married another woman named Jessica. Now, just because Zanele didn’t marry Andile didn’t mean that she was not involved in his life. So let’s find out what happened in Umjolo: Day Ones and if Andile was able to resolve the conflicts that came his way.

Spoiler Alert

What happened between Zanele and Andile?

The moment you saw Zanele and Andile together, you realized that the latter had done the worst possible thing by marrying Jessica. Now, ideally, it was Zanele who was third wheeling with the couple, but those who knew Andile knew that the reality was something different. Moreover, in the first five minutes of Umjolo: Day Ones itself, it was apparent that it was unfair for Jessica to be in that situation. Well, in the beginning, nothing of that sort happened between Andile and Zanele, but still, being married to a man whose female best friend was his priority a lot of the time was not an easy thing to deal with. Even Andile’s father didn’t like Jessica that much, as she didn’t belong to their community. He called Zanele her daughter, and that affection somewhere hurt Jessica a bit too much. I wouldn’t say that Jessica had a problem with Andile’s father treating Zanele affectionately, but with the condescending manner in which he talked to her a lot of times. Andile’s father wanted a grandson, as, in his view, only a son could carry his legacy. Jessica couldn’t give him that, and moreover, no matter what the poor woman did, he never appreciated her for her efforts.

We saw that Zanele came every Tuesday for dinner at Andile’s house. She shared a great equation with Andile and Jessica’s two daughters, and on most of the social occasions, she tagged along with the family. Jessica welcomed Zanele with open arms because she realized what she meant to her husband. But I believe that Jessica was also human at the end of the day, and there would have been times when she would have felt insecure looking at them. So, according to Zanele and Andile’s common friends, there was a time when the two were inseparable, and everybody felt like they would end up together. A school reunion party was organized, and Zanele and Andile went there together. The entire group was playing truth or dare, and suddenly one of the friends asked Zanele if she had ever been romantically inclined towards Andile and if they had ever gotten physically intimate. Zanele gave Andile a peck, and she told her friends that she had never gotten intimate with him in the past. But the friends didn’t stop there; they gave a dare to Andile and told him to kiss Zanele. Zanele and Andile shared a passionate kiss, and later that night, they ended up crossing all boundaries by getting intimate with each other. Andile and Zanele both knew that they had committed a mistake. They both knew that whatever happened had the potential to ruin everything. 

How did Jessica come to know about Andile’s affair? 

Andile came back to his home after the reunion, and Jessica realized that he was behaving in a very strange manner. Zanele also stopped coming to Andile’s house, and she stopped picking up Jessica’s calls, which made the latter even more suspicious. Jessica had a hunch that something would have happened at the reunion party, because of which Zanele and Andile had grown apart. She entertained the worst possible scenarios in her mind, but then, one day, Andile sat with her and told her that the truth was not what she thought it to be. Andile lied to his wife and told her that Zanele was not coming over because she had gotten busy with a new client, and he was stressed out because he didn’t like the way his father treated Jessica. Jessica felt like somebody had lifted a huge burden from her shoulders, not knowing that she had been lied to. But then something happened, and because of that, Andile wasn’t able to control his impulses. Zanele’s construction company got a new client who wanted to make a deal with her.

Sbu Sishi, owner of Sbu Lifestyle Village, was mesmerized the moment he laid his eyes on Zanele. He approached Zanele and asked if she wanted to go on a date with him. Zanele bluntly told him no, and she said that she didn’t like mixing her professional life with her personal life. But Sbu was persistent, and in the end, he was able to woo Zanele with his charm. Zanele decided to make her relationship official, and the moment Andile got to know about it, he grew restless, and a very different side of him came out. Andile created a scene when Zanele and Sbu came to his house for dinner. That night, he not only disrespected Sbu, but he told Zanele that he loved her. Jessica overheard the conversation with Zanele, and obviously, she was heartbroken. Jessica didn’t deserve to go through what she did. She was a faithful wife, and she had given her everything to the family. But still, her husband cheated on her and broke her trust. 

Will Zanele and Andile end up together? 

Jessica, maybe for her kids, still wanted to stay with Andile. In my personal opinion, she should have left him there and then, but by deciding to stay, she was just making herself more vulnerable to getting hurt in the future. Now, things became even more complicated when Zanele realized that she was pregnant. She knew that it was Andile’s baby, but she didn’t want to reveal that fact to him. The major reason for it was that Jessica had gone to meet Zanele, and she had quite bluntly asked her if she was in love with her husband. Zanele had very blatantly told them that it was a one-time mistake, and she was extremely apologetic for it. So, Jessica asked Zanele to stay away from her family and not show her face ever again. The pregnancy came as a surprise for Zanele, as doctors had earlier told her that she could not conceive. It was a blessing in disguise, but now she didn’t know how to go about the entire issue. Andile got to know that Zanele was carrying his baby, but the latter told him to just focus on his family life and not create any more hassle for all of them. 

Zanele committed another blunder: She went to Sbu and told him that it was his baby and that she was ready to marry him. Sbu obviously was very happy, and he started making preparations for the baby shower. Zanele live-streamed her baby shower ceremony, and Andile found out that she was having a son. Andile and his father have always wanted to have a male heir, so Andile couldn’t resist his impulse and he went to meet Zanele at her house. Andile once again created a scene, and poor Sbu got to know the truth. Sbu obviously was disheartened, but he still very maturely told Zanele that if she had told him the truth, then they could have dealt with it in a better manner. Sbu decided to part ways with Zanele. He told Zanele that he loved her, but she had let him down in ways that he couldn’t have imagined. Zanele also loved Sbu, but she knew that she and Andile were responsible for the damage that had been done. 

What will happen to Andile and Zanele? 

In Umjolo: Day Ones’ ending, Zanele, and Andile decided to share custody of their child, though they were still not on talking terms. Andile, quite shamelessly, told Zanele that he had committed a mistake by marrying Jessica and that it should have been Zanele instead of her. Jessica left Andile as she realized after the entire baby shower incident that she wouldn’t be able to cope with a man who was obsessed with another woman. Now, as far as part 3, Umjolo: My Beginning and My End, is concerned, I believe that there will be a different set of characters that will be introduced since the franchise follows that pattern. But if we had to ascertain in which direction Andile and Zanele’s life would lead them then I believe that there are multiple directions in which the narrative could go. It could be possible that Jessica forgives Andile, and both of them resolve their conflicts and get back together, probably for the sake of their kids. I think that would be the worst thing that Jessica could do. Jessica was literally insulted in her relationship, and even after her husband broke her trust and had an affair, I don’t think he repented to the degree that he should have. Obviously, he was sad because nothing worked for him, but I believe that he didn’t understand what he had caused Jessica to go through.

The second possibility could be that Zanele and Andile get back together, though it seems like a far-fetched possibility considering how things ended between them in Umjolo: Day Ones. I think that Zanele will eventually get back with Sbu, as he was somebody who understood her and who loved her more than anybody else. Maybe Andile meets someone, and he decides to give love another shot. But I think that he should learn from his past mistakes, and whatever he chooses to do, he should always keep the feelings of the person he is involved with in his mind and not act selfishly as he did with Jessica. 

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