The World’s Best Kept Secret, South African Soaps
From Top Left to Right: Generations: The Legacy, Scandal!, 7de Laan, and Uzalo
Soap Operas have been a part of television culture since the early 1930s. The phenomena, which originated in America as radio serials meant for the daytime listening of housewives, spread across the world to Britain, Australia, and eventually developing countries like South Africa. Soap Operas usually consist of thirty-minute slots, with added commercial breaks in between. These television shows typically center around a central cast and follow the usual themes of family, money, romance, and power.
In the beginning, early South African soap operas such as 7de Laan, Generations, Isidingo, and Scandal took on the dominant themes and characteristics that are so prevalent in American soap operas, such as forbidden romances, feuding families and old money versus new money. However, post-apartheid, more themes and nuances common to the South African people became prevalent in all soap operas. Themes include social injustices, HIV/AIDS, sexuality, inequality, and crime.
Once the Apartheid regime was dismantled in the county, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), which was once a mouthpiece for the Nationalist Party, started airing soapies as a liberal form of television for the country. South Africa’s first daily soap opera was Egoli: Place of Gold which first aired on April 6, 1992. The bilingual show followed a mainly white cast and was the first South African soapie to reach four thousand episodes after running for eighteen years and finally ending in 2010. The show, however, was more catered toward a white audience. The soap featured English and Afrikaans as the languages spoken by the characters and revolved around the daily trials of different families in and around Johannesburg.
In 1993 the SABC introduced a groundbreaking and trailblazing soapie to South African television. When Generations premiered on SABC 1, it was the first soap opera of its kind to air on South African television. On the hind legs of the first democratic elections, South Africa was on the brink of change for the better. Generations were set against the backdrop of the Advertising industry in Johannesburg and featured a cast of young, hopeful South Africans who aspired for a better, freer future.
Tackling the newly found dynamics of democracy, rivalry, family, and romance, the soap followed the lives of a young Karabo Moroka, Sibusiso Dlomo, Queen Moroka, and Kenneth Mashaba as they run the successful Ezweni Communications advertising firm. Despite what was happening in South Africa at the time, race was not at the forefront of the show. Generations was a breath of fresh air for the audience. The drama in generations was based on relational drama. Unlike soapies that would emerge in the future, Generations did not promote the success of black people through crime and corruption but rather through hard work and effort. Generations addressed real issues that black people faced in South Africa without demeaning or stereotyping anyone.
Generations ran from 1993 until its abrupt end in October 2013 due to a labor dispute between production and the cast. However, during its 21 years, Generations cemented itself as one of the most-watched soapies in South Africa. The show featured characters that spoke in different languages (South Africa has eleven official languages), and celebrated South African cultures in a way that had not been seen broadcasted by the SABC before. The show introduced some of South Africa's most iconic and beloved characters, such as Connie Ferguson. Connie Ferguson is now an executive producer on modern-day soapies such as Rockville, The Queen, and The Throne. For many performers, Generations was a launching pad into the South African film and television industry. Before Connie was a successful actor and producer, she was the beloved Karabo Moroka. Karabo represented a strong yet delicate woman who maintained the Moroka family legacy in a male-dominated advertising industry. She gave every black woman an idol to look up to, not just in her beauty but in her class and her business smarts.
Although Generations came to an end and its whole cast fired, the original producer Mfundi Vundla created Generations: The Legacy, a remake of the original soapie. The remake follows the same themes and trends as the original show.
Through the years, soap operas have become South Africa’s leading television genre. The formula of bad guy versus good guy and all the drama in between keep the South African audience happily entertained. The Soap Opera genre is more profitable than other TV genres in the country, as soap operas account for more than 40% of overall television viewing. Soap Operas are so successful because they are relevant to current affairs and they showcase South Africa’s rich cultural landscape. Due to the high viewing rate of soap operas in the country, broadcasters keep their prime television spots for soap operas, ensuring that advertising slots are highly contested amongst advertisers.
South Africans now have a larger choice of soaps to watch since Egoli: Place of Gold hit television screens 32 years ago. As more soapies emerge, viewers now have a wider variety of shows to choose from in terms of storyline and language. The accessibility of soap operas, which can be viewed on any television for free on one of the SABC channels, as well as the wide variety to choose from, allows this television model to work for South Africa. TV soaps are often shot for a low budget ($600 to $830 per screen minute). South African Soapies do not try to interweave western narratives or culture but remain centered around Such African cultures, ancestral beliefs, culture, and social commentary, narratives that resonate with the South African television audience. Soap Operas can go on for decades, as they are written episodically rather than on a seasonal basis, and many are shot inside a studio, making location costs lowers than that of films and telenovelas.
A unique factor of South African soap operas is the language dynamic. Although most soapies mix the different languages of the country, there are shows that cater specifically to a certain cultural group. Muvhango, which has been on air since 1997, is predominately geared towards the Venda cultural group of South Africa. Muvhango features the cultural customs, traditional rites, and language of Vendas and is therefore popular with Venda speakers. Similarly, soap operas such as 7de Laan, Binnelanders, and Getroud Met Rugby, are more geared toward an Afrikaans-speaking audience. Having a large array of soapies, all about different narratives, allows South Africans to find a show that suits their viewing needs.
Giyani: Land of Blood, an SABC 2 telenovela that aired in April 2019, was the first Xitsonga drama series in South African television history and drew in a large audience for that reason. Following the people of the community of Risinga, mainly the Baloyi Family and the Mudau Family, as they navigate their way through secrets, betrayals, and romance.
In 2016, SABC One aired Uzalo, which pulled in five million viewers for its pilot episode. Uzalo was groundbreaking because it was the first authentic Zulu-language television soapie set in KwaZulu-Natal. The Zulu tribe in South Africa is one of the biggest cultures in the country, with the most native speakers. Uzalo often pulls in a viewership of nine million viewers. Uzalo intertwines the world of two South African Zulu families. The show started off telling the story of two twin boys that were separated at birth, as one is raised in a Christian family and the other within a car theft crime syndicate. Through the years, the show has progressed to other storylines and other character subplots while mining the ingenuity of the original cast. In its ninth season, Uzalo is the most-watched soap opera in South Africa.
Most soap operas that aired on television catered towards an adult audience and focused on adult conflicts until Skeem Saam. Skeem Saam aired on SABC One for the first time in 2011 and quickly become one of the most talked about soap operas in the country. The show was the first to cater to a younger audience, mainly teenagers and young adults, as it was introduced as a SABC Education Production meant to educate the youth on issues such as teenage pregnancy, drugs, school conflicts, alcoholism, and parent-teacher relationships. Set in Johannesburg and Turfloop, the soapie follows the lives of three boys as they navigate their lives from high school and beyond.
Although streaming platforms such as Netflix and Showmax are gaining more of an audience in the country, no form of television is more successful than soap operas in South Africa. The soap opera methodology works not only for broadcast networks such as the SABC but also works for viewers and advertisers. Soap operas are the best way for television creators to reach the multi-cultural and ever-changing social landscape of South Africa.