Frank Malaba, who made his name as Dr Phumza in the popular local soap Amakorokoza, has been signed on by one of South Africa's highly rated productions in what could turn out to be a major breakthrough for the actor.

Malaba, who beat a strong field of actors in auditions for a role on independent pay per view channel e-TV's Scandal, says the role in the soap has presented him with a major breakthrough as a professional actor.

Scandal, screened from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm, has scooped several South African awards and in the process became popular throughout the region.

The talented Malaba plays the part of John Nisi, recently appointed editor of The Voice newspaper by the owner Daniel Nyathi (Sello Maake kaNcube.)

The top post was first given to Eddie Khumalo, played by Sandie Mokoena who turns down the promotion because he wants to concentrate on finishing a novel he is writing.

The appointment leaves the two journalists in an awkward position, as Nsibi is Khumalo's former student who suddenly finds himself in a situation where he is forced to supervise his former teacher. They both worked for a similar publication before joining The Voice.

In an interview with Standardplus, Malaba said the stint would expose him to many opportunities in the showbiz industry.

He revealed that after the e-TV breakthrough, a number of production houses were queuing up for his signature.

Malaba plans to venture into stage theatre, television advertising and fiction writing. He is also in the process of finishing his documentary, which will be screened on SABC 3.

"This is an opportunity for growth in my career and it will expose my talent to new audiences," he said. "I have a number of auditions lined up in South Africa.

"I am not only concentrating on acting on the small screen, but I will also be venturing into stage theatre and television advertising."

Malaba also sees the opportunity of even going international once he is established in South Africa.

The Bulawayo-born actor graduated from a South African film school, Media Village, in September last year when he was already an established performer in Amakorokoza.

He started acting when he was eight years old, and turned professional by the age of 16.

On his future in Amakorokoza, Malaba said he was still part of the project and would be shooting a few scenes shortly before returning to South Africa.

Amakorokoza was temporarily shelved early this year after just one episode following complaints by its producers that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation was taking advantage of the soap's popularity to clog prime-time viewing with Zanu PF adverts.

This was during the run up to the controversial June 27 presidential election run-off in which President Robert Mugabe ran alone after the main contender, Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC, pulled out citing state-sponsored violence.