Created by Kutlwano Ditsele and Thuli Zuma, Go! is the story of a child prodigy who was destined to set new records in short-distance sprinting. Siya’s brother, Shuffle, always knew that it was just a matter of time before Siya got spotted by somebody, and it changed his life forever. But before Siya could make his name on the track, something happened that changed his life forever. So, let’s find out what happened with Siya and what kind of mess he landed in after that.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Siya frame Mandla?
Siya, a young boy who came from a humble background, had an exceptional gift. Siya Gumede was called Bolt by his friends and loved ones for a reason: he was as fast as lightning. But little did he know that his talent would give him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change his fate. Siya had no plans of racing professionally, he just enjoyed being on the track and coming first every time he competed. Siya’s elder brother Shuffle was involved in all sorts of illegitimate businesses, not because he wanted to, but because he knew that he was the only earning member of the family. But Shuffle made sure that he never brought his professional baggage back to his home. One time, Shuffle made a bet with some guys where his brother had to run against them. During that race, which Siya ultimately won, Coach Arendse, who worked at Saint Jude, was present in the crowd. He saw Siya running, and he knew that he had found a gem. The coach went to meet Siya at his home and offered to let him join Saint Jude, probably the best school in the country. It was a lucrative offer, and the fact that Siya didn’t have to pay a single penny from his pocket made it even more alluring. Siya decided to join the school, but something unprecedented happened just a day before his joining. Siya went out to party with his girlfriend, Nthabi, and Mandla, who was his best friend. Mandla and Nthabi were cousins, and the entire group of friends was quite tight-knit since they had known each other for years. That night, Mandla got drunk, and while Siya was driving back with him, a boy came in front of their car out of nowhere. Siya wasn’t able to put the brakes on in time, and as a result, the boy died on the spot. Siya believed that even Mandla had passed away, and so he called up Shuffle in that state of paranoia. Shuffle, presuming that Mandla had died, told Siya to put him in the driver’s seat and make a run for it. Siya did as he was told, and he escaped from there. The next day, he went to school, pretending that everything was normal.
What happened after Siya joined Saint Jude?
It was, anyway, not an easy adjustment for Siya to be among the rich kids, and to make it worse, he just couldn’t focus after what had happened on that fateful night. Fortunately, Mandla somehow survived that night, and he was admitted to a hospital. Siya was happy that his friend was alive, but it also made him nervous, since he knew that Mandla would tell everybody that it was Siya who was driving the car and not him. But Mandla was so drunk that he didn’t remember anything from that night. So Siya also lied to the detectives and told them that he was never in the car with Mandla. Meanwhile, at school, Siya was finding it hard to cope with his studies and his training. Since his house was quite far away from the school, he had to wake up at 4 am every day and then travel all the way to the posh neighborhood. His principal suggested that he needed to come and stay in the vicinity, as he wanted him to perform well in his races. Because there was no vacancy in the school hostel, the principal talked to Siya’s sponsors and convinced them to let him stay at their place. Mr. Khumalo was a good man, and he was the one who had decided to sponsor Siya’s education. Siya got the shock of his life the moment he entered his house. Mr. Khumalo was the father of the boy who had died on that fateful night. Siya was horrified when he saw a photo of the victim in the bedroom he was sleeping in, and he had no clue how he would be able to survive the guilt. As time passed, Siya adjusted to the new place, and he started performing really well in the racing events. One of Siya’s colleagues, RJ, who happened to be a star runner before the former arrived, got jealous of his success. RJ didn’t like the fact that, just after one win, everybody made Siya into a star. Siya didn’t pay attention to all those things since he had bigger fish to fry. Mr. Khumalo had a daughter, Gabisile, who absolutely despised Siya. After the win, even she started seeing Siya in a different light, so much so that she got physically intimate with him. Siya knew that, by doing so, he was cheating on his girlfriend, Nthabi, but at that moment, even he couldn’t resist. The next day, Siya woke up feeling guilty, and he told Gabisile that he didn’t want to repeat what happened the other night. But Gabisile had something very different in her mind, which was soon going to become a problem for Siya.
Why did Siya miss the trials?
Siya “Bolt” Gumede had dug his own grave, and he had nobody but himself to blame for it. Nthabi saw a video of that night, which she had on her phone. She saw that Siya and Mandla were getting inside the car in the background. It was quite clearly visible that Siya sat in the driver’s seat while Mandla sat next to him. Nthabi confronted Siya, and she told him that she knew everything. It was Siya’s elder brother who came to his rescue and told Nthabi why she shouldn’t tell the truth to the authorities. He told Nthabi that not everybody had a gift like Siya did and that they all needed to play their part in his journey. Shuffle told Nthabi that Siya was the only one who could take them out of their miserable lives and change their fate. Though Nthabi’s conscience didn’t allow her to stay quiet, she didn’t tell Mandla or anyone else anything. Meanwhile, Mandla was stuck in prison, and his lawyer told him to plead guilty. But Shuffle assured Nthabi that he would find a way out for him and make sure that Mandla went free. Shuffle talked to a lawyer who assured him that he could get Mandla out on bail. Shuffle went to one of the mafia bosses he worked for, Mr. T, and asked him to lend him thirty grand. Now, Mr. T was a businessman, so he told Shuffle that he would give him the money, provided that Siya would come and compete against his guys. The deal was that if Siya won the race, then Shuffle wouldn’t have to pay him back a penny, but if he lost, then Mr. T would get double the amount plus interest. Shuffle agreed, as he didn’t have any other option. Another problem arose when Mr. T fixed the race on the same day Siya’s trials were supposed to happen at Saint Jude. It was a life-altering decision for Siya, but he knew that no matter what cost he had to pay, he wouldn’t leave his brother’s. There was no denying that, had Siya gone for the trials, he would have been selected for the national team, but the lives of his loved ones were at stake, and he didn’t want to commit yet another mistake that could burden his conscience.
What will Siya do next?
Siya participated in the race organized by Mr. T, and he won it too, but at the end of Go!, some things happened that I believe will become a problem for Siya in the future. We saw that Gabisile saw Siya and Mandla meeting, and she realized that they were good friends. Mr. Khumalo didn’t know that Siya was friends with the boy who had killed his son. Gabisile started blackmailing Siya, and she forcibly tried to get intimate with him. She asked him to be violent with her in bed, and she recorded the entire act on her phone. In the end, we saw that she went to her father and told him that she wanted to share something with him. Probably Gabisile wanted to teach Siya a lesson, which is why she had plans of framing him for a sexual offense. If she shows the video to her father in the future, then her father will make sure that Siya is put behind bars. Meanwhile, Nthabi told Siya that though she would keep quiet and not tell Mandla anything, she didn’t want to have any sort of relationship with him. Siya was heartbroken, because he loved Nthabi. He tried to convince her, but Nthabi had made up her mind. To make things worse, Mandla saw the same video on Nthabi’s phone where Siya had gone and sat in the driver’s seat. It became clear to Mandla that it was Siya who was driving the car that night. I believe that if Mr. Khumalo takes action, then Siya would be expelled from his school, and he would have to face legal consequences. The road ahead is going to be tough for Siya, and it would be interesting to see how he tackles these obstacles in case the makers come up with another season of Go!.
