South African filmmakers and actors showed off this year with the making of some brilliant TV shows.
From gripping storylines to drama queens and kings to cat-fights, we’ve picked our top five shows for 2022.
Young, Famous & African
The Netflix reality show was shot in Johannesburg and featured a host of colourful personalities such as Khanyi Mbau, Nadia Nakai, Diamond Platnumz, Swanky Jerry and Zari the Boss Lady among others, and it showed off their extravagant lifestyles unapologetically.
When the show hit our screens on March 18 it instantly commanded the attention of viewers, shooting to the top trends and attracting people from other countries. It later bag a nomination at the National Reality TV Awards 2022.
Savage Beauty
Award-winning actors Nthati Moshesh and Dumisani Mbebe star in this African drama series with Rosemary Zimu as the lead. The series thrusts viewers into the world of beauty, underpinned by secrets and revenge.
Produced by Quizzical Pictures and created by Lebogang Mogashoa the show offered viewers plenty of drama with secrets being revealed and revenge served hot.
Steinheist
This documentary looks at the biggest corporate scam in SA history. When corporate giant Steinhoff crashed in 2017, it wiped more than R200 billion off the JSE and knocked the pension funds of millions of ordinary South Africans.
The collapse was due to the discovery of accounting irregularities and resulted in CEO Markus Jooste’s resignation.
“Steinheist” is the story of Markus Jooste and a R100 billion lie that everyone bought – a lie that was built over two decades.
The three-part doccie is produced by Idea Candy and asks “How did this happen?”, “How did no one see it coming?” and “How is Marcus Jooste not in jail?”
Blood Psalms
Jahmil XT Qubeka’s action-packed fantasy series “Blood Psalms” has been nothing short of epic.
The multi-award-winning film-maker gathered up an all-star cast with Bokang Phelane, Mothusi Magano, Bongile Mansai, Sello Maake kaNcube, Zolisa Xaluva and other South African Film and TV awardees to make a series set in ancient Africa.
The show is set one thousand years after the fall of Atlantis. The five surviving provinces of Kemet find themselves beset with fears of a prophesied end of days when Princess Zazi, played by Phelane, turns 18.
Zazi must navigate ancient curses, long-standing ancestral vendettas, and her unexplainable role as the damning prophecy’s chief harbinger.
Redemption
Themba Ndaba, Tina Jaxa and Pearl Modiadie helm his drama series. The show revolves around the highly respected Zikode family.
Ndaba portrays celebrated pastor Simon Zikode, who mysteriously disappears, forcing his daughter Faith, who is on the cusp of her international music career, to rush to her family’s rescue.
Jaxa plays the pastor’s devout wife, Evelyn Zikode, a classic matriarch who guards her nest like a hawk. The show ignited fervent conversations around daily experiences of ordinary South Africans and shone a light on value systems in African communities.
