Best South African drama series

After crossing paths at a party, a Cape Town teen sets out to prove whether a private-school swimming star is her sister who was abducted at birth.

A house cleaner desperately searches for her husband as a dreaded criminal syndicate dredges up past tragedies and ultimately drives her to violence.

A highly trained South African spy must face changing relationships in her personal life while taking on her most dangerous mission yet.

A married professor is pulled into a passionate affair with a younger man that uncovers a path of tragedy and betrayal from those closest to her.

Charlie Jade is a science fiction television program filmed mainly in Cape Town, South Africa. It stars Jeffrey Pierce in the title role, as a detective from a parallel universe who finds himself trapped in our universe. This is a Canadian and South African co-production filmed in conjunction with CHUM Television and the South African Industrial Development Corporation. The special effects were produced by the Montreal-based company Cinegroupe led by Michel Lemire. The show started in 2004 and was aired on the Canadian Space Channel. It premiered on the Space Channel April 16, 2005 and aired in Eastern Europe, France, Italy, on SABC 3 in South Africa, on Fox Japan, and on AXN in Hong Kong. The show began airing in the United Kingdom in October 2007, on FX. The Sci Fi Channel in the United States premiered the show on June 6, 2008, but after 2 episodes on Friday prime-time, moved it to overnight Mon/Tue.

Three story strands are interwoven into a sophisticated action-packed thriller that covers the length and breadth of South Africa, explosively colliding in Cape Town in a violent conspiracy involving organized crime, smuggled diamonds, state security, Black Rhinos, the CIA and an international terrorist plot.

In 1994 South Africa, the daughter of a multiracial couple is kidnapped. She escapes and as an adult becomes a detective. Continuing to deal with her past trauma, Reyka Gama uses her skills to raise her child and solve mysteries that have challenged others.

Seeking revenge for her tragic past, a mysterious woman embeds herself in a powerful family who possess a global beauty empire — and dark secrets.

South Africa, 1823. The Zulu Empire, headed by King Shaka, a brilliant but ruthless military strategist, begin to encroach on the British colony of Cape Town. A volunteer cadre of explorers, mercenaries and professional soldiers are sent to Zululand to try to make contact with Shaka and assess the real threat of his army.

Set in the wealthy neighbourhood of Bishopscourt, Cape Town, investigative journalist Edie Hansen gets caught up in the ugly underbelly that lies beneath the picturesque beauty of the city, dragging her back to a turbulent past.

Tannie Maria sees food as "medicine for the body and heart". She envies romance as much as she enjoys cooking and eating. But it's death that shakes up Tannie Maria's life, when one of the correspondents to her column is brutally murdered.

To save a kidnapped family member, an enterprising furniture tycoon must use his secret diamond smuggling operation to transport guns across the border.

After a series of misfortunes, Fleur — mourning a deep loss — takes her daughter and returns to her hometown in search of a renewed sense of purpose.

Prodigal daughter Tumi tries to make things right after completely ruining what should have been her sister's picture-perfect Christmas wedding.

An all-mighty goddess reincarnated as a young woman must harness her divine powers to avenge her sister's death and protect her family from destruction.

After years of estrangement, Khanyi Adesina returns home to fight for her family's business empire as it threatens to collapse under corruption.

An author who has dedicated his career to solving paranormal cases, returns home to South Africa to investigate the biggest mystery of his life: His sister's death in a water canal 20 years ago.

A woman is wrongly convicted of fraud and in the process losses her children. She emerges from prison eight years later intending to reunite with her children and clear her name.

Single, 30 and under pressure, Thando lies to her family that she has a boyfriend. Now she has 24 days to bring one home for Christmas. Can she do it?

JIVA! is a fun and energy-packed drama series that follows the life of the talented street dancer Ntombi, who while juggling the demands of a dead end job, family responsibility and a rocky love life realises that her dance moves could be her ticket out of her working class neighbourhood in Durban. But first, she must overcome her fears, beat her rivals and sort out the chaos that is her family.

After a public humiliation, a wannabe influencer enrolls in a small-town university, where she aspires to regain her social status.

When Luna, a talented gymnast, is awarded a bursary to a prestigious private school, she is thrust into the cut-throat world of drum majorettes, aka "trompoppies". After a hazing ritual goes badly wrong, cheerleaders start turning up dead.

Konings is 'n Suid-Afrikaanse drama-televisiereeks wat deur Paul C. Venter geskep en geskryf is en wat oor 'n tydperk van 45 jaar afspeel wat die titaniese stryd tussen twee gesinne dokumenteer om beheer oor 'n "Superspaar"-winkel, 'n winkel "so groot soos 'n sokkerveld, waar 'n mens alles kan koop".

Set in the heart of a KwaZulu Natal’s KwaMashu Township, eHostela tackles the story of two sons whose bond is bound in secrets and sealed by guns. Can a family stay loyal when not tied by blood? Exploring the underground society of inkabi (hitmen) which remains masked in mystery and hearsay.

A teacher at a struggling school is devastated by the death of her star pupil at the hands of a criminal ex-boyfriend. She accidentally avenges the murder and quickly finds herself in the gray area of vigilantism, and surrounded by the challenges of today's youth.

The show revolves around the Khoza family, drug lords who hide their dealings behind their logistics company, and their conflicts with their competitors and the Tembisa Police Service. Connie Ferguson plays the role of Harriet Khoza, the widow of a drug lord and a drug lord known as "The Queen" while Shona Ferguson plays the police officer Jerry Maake.

Metal Tears is a South African musical drama adventure limited series created by and starring rapper and singer Youngboi OG. The series serves as a visual interpretation of his second studio album, also titled Metal Tears.

Set in the 1700s, Shaka iLembe tells the story of the making of the iconic African king, with iterations from his early childhood through to adulthood.

Based on Deon Meyer's 2004 best-selling novel of the same name - centres on Detective Benny Grissel, tasked with tracking down a righteous vigilante killer whose crimes capture the city's imagination.

Cape Town. Police captain Mat Joubert used to be the best, solved every crime, got every killer. But that was a year ago, before his wife Lara was murdered while working undercover. Mat's been on a downward spiral ever since, haunted by a blurred past, uncertain which role he played in the murder of his wife. Now Mat is an out of shape chain smoker who is ambivalent about the crime-ridden world around him. Gradually, Mat begins to overcome the ghosts of his past. But in order to stop the violence of his current cases he must relive the nightmare of his wife's murder.

Four varsity friends, whose strong bond has held them together even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions. As they try to find love and success in Johannesburg after university.

Ethan is a 17-year-old driver working for a local gang. Disgusted with gang life, Ethan discovers a possible way out via spinning, an extreme motorsport. But the looming gang war jeopardises that hope.

A South African Afrikaans series about broken families and the lies and deceit within them and how sins committed to do good can come back to haunt families when they least expect it.

When the bodies of six children are found in the backwater forests of Donkerbos, Limpopo, an ostracised detective must wrestle with her dark past, her family and a distrustful community to catch the killer before another child is taken.

A young runner is given a second chance at life when he is offered a track scholarship, but can he chase his dreams without tripping on his lies?

Based on the book with the same name; meet Mart Vermaak, the disillusionment of her growing up takes place against the political backdrop of the turbulent late 1970s, while an older Mart finds herself in a disillusionment of a different kind.

Two families, the Dlamini's and the Mokoena's, with different backgrounds that are brought together and divided by the discovery of a diamond in Cullinan, just a stone’s throw away from Pretoria.

The Greyling siblings reunite at their family home in the Namaqualand desert in the Northern Cape after one of them reneges on a decade-long deal to settle the debts they took on when their father abandoned them and disappeared.

Dark secrets are revealed after a tragic event at an elite boarding school sets off a search for the truth.

Suddenly forced to leave her mother in the US to join her father's stepfamily in South Africa, Ella is swept up in a whole new reality as an expat.

Six beloved African folktales are boldly reimagined in this multilingual anthology series exploring themes of grief, love, and mysticism.

Set in an Eastern Cape farming community, the story follows Yola who returns home from Chile for her father's funeral, only to be met by the ghosts of her past.

Epic drama follows a group of Boers during significant events in South African history. The first series is primarily set on St. Helena and follows the lives of Boer prisoners-of-war at Deadwood Camp. Among them is Sloet Steenkamp, a Cape Rebel whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on the island. The second series shifts to post-war mainland South Africa, where the Boers, though returned, still struggle for freedom. New characters are introduced, including Meisie, who is mute due to trauma, and her mother Cornelia, who seeks revenge. In the third series, Sloet and his friends, yearning to escape British rule, embark on the Dorsland Trek, a perilous journey across the Kalahari Desert in search of freedom beyond South Africa's borders.

"Is'thunzi" is a South African teen drama television series created by Amanda Lane and set in the fast-paced world of South Africa's born-frees and in an age of wireless headphones, "dabbin" and memes, which follows the exploits of four girls who call themselves Ninjas..

Epic drama follows a group of Boers during significant events in South African history. The first series is primarily set on St. Helena and follows the lives of Boer prisoners-of-war at Deadwood Camp. Among them is Sloet Steenkamp, a Cape Rebel whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on the island. The second series shifts to post-war mainland South Africa, where the Boers, though returned, still struggle for freedom. New characters are introduced, including Meisie, who is mute due to trauma, and her mother Cornelia, who seeks revenge. In the third series, Sloet and his friends, yearning to escape British rule, embark on the Dorsland Trek, a perilous journey across the Kalahari Desert in search of freedom beyond South Africa's borders.

The fact that they are living in the house belonging to the Master - may rest in peace - some residents of Breipaal raise the armor, make others uncomfortable and then there are those who predict that nothing can be done here Not especially after the murder of one of the residents. When Master appeared in the Haasbroek daughter inexplicably one night, things began to take a path that nobody could provide. All four tensions sometimes high and sometimes they sometimes make them sleepy, all at 'The Paal' - Brown and White, Incommers and old residents - are just people who have to overcome many obstacles in order to realize their dreams and ideals and to fear their fears overcome.

Die Sonkring is a South African, Afrikaans-language television drama series which revolves around a woman who seems to bring tragedy and misfortune to those close to her.

Getroud met Rugby is a drama revolving around four stars of a Johannesburg rugby team and their wives as they become involved in various interconnected scandals.

In a dusty small South African town, a man in search of forgiveness tries to rebuild a relationship with the son he abandoned when he was a child, while renovating a run-down outdoor swimming pool. A feel-good series with biting humor that reflects both the ills of South African society and its resilience.

Drama series about a woman who seems to bring tragedy and misfortune to those close to her. At the end of their matric year, three school friends - Maryna, Karen and Dina - visit a fortuneteller. What starts as good fun takes an ominous turn when the seer fortells tragedy in all three their lives - and all caused by Maryna, "the dark one". While Dina doesn't hold much stock to the prophecy, it threatens to ruin Maryna's friendship with Karen. In the years that follow, it indeed seems that misfortune surrounds Maryna as her and her friends' lives are beset by accidents, suicide, betrayal, revenge and even murder. There is also a good dose political intrigue as Maryna's husband (Karen's former fiancé Neil MacDonald) gets involved with the influential and corrupt steel magnate Alwyn Dressler. In the second series, Maryna goes to jail after taking revenge on Dressler for Neil's death. Will she ever escape the fortune teller's prophecy and will she find love and happiness?

The series follows Marietjie Barnhoorn, the estranged wife of a successful businessman; Leana Steyn, the private secretary of an elderly business tycoon, who is ruthless in her ambitions to overcome her impoverished past; and aging ballerina Mercia Meyer, who returns to South Africa after living and working abroad and has to deal with the hostility of her fellow South Africans.

An angel named Josephine arrives in a rural town to help residents find faith and their truest selves.

The unit specializes in the investigation of serial murders and is led by Van der Bijl, a former murder and robbery detective who gained fame for his handling of several high-profile cases. Each episode focuses on a serial killer. The main character, Colonel Piet van der Bijl, also known as Die Byl, is loosely modeled on the famous ex-detective Piet Byleveld.

Prodigal daughter Tumi tries to make things right after completely ruining what should have been her sister's picture-perfect Christmas wedding.

South African soap opera centering around the lives of the wealthy Haines family, the Matabanes, and the lives of the inhabitants of the mining town Horizon Deep.

Beautiful people, good wine and respected neighbors who live on the banks of the Hartebeespoort Dam with lives that are seemingly idyllic quiet and romantic, but that contain deep secrets just below the facade.

Zatopek (Zet) van Heerden is an ex-cop, a damaged man who describes himself as trash and acts self-destructively. He reluctantly agrees to take on a job for attorney Hope Beneke. Jan Smit, an antiques dealer, has been killed; tortured with a blowtorch then shot in the back of the head. An execution-style murder. The weapon used was an M16, a military gun, favoured by mercenaries. The contents of Smit's safe are missing and that includes his will which is needed to settle his estate. When van Heerden tries to find out more he discovers that Jan Smit had a false ID and sets out to uncover who he was. His investigations lead him into South Africa's murky past and attracts the unwelcome attention of brutal killers. Meyer effectively weaves together the progress of the investigation with van Heerden's account of his life story leading up to the awful events that resulted in his fall from grace and loss of integrity.

A television series set in an alternate Pan-African world, where evil thrives and darkness rules. Here, a specialized Police Occult Unit led by ambitious young detective Alice Kunene together with seasoned veteran Harkness and their high-tech detective team, hunts down the perpetrators of evil, both in the world of the living and of the dead.

The original 1975 feature film about the mischievous young Trompie and the misadventures he and his gang of friends embark upon, based on the books by Topsy Smith.

Desperate to pay for her daughter's life-saving surgery, devout ex-cop Babalwa turns to an unholy savior to help her stage a daring heist.

Die Vierde Kabinet revolves around corruption in the police and the Organised Crime Unit, the hated internal investigation unit of the police who set traps for and spy on other police units to try and uncover corrupt members. The same corrupt police attempt to turn the tables by trying to find information about who is in this specialised unit. In 1993, shortly before the first democratic election in South Africa, a group of policemen rushed to get rid of files containing information about illegal police operations. The files were placed in filing cabinets, taken to a secret place and destroyed with explosives. But in the atmosphere of panic and disorder a cabinet - the so-called "fourth cabinet" - got lost and was forgotten. In 1997, Bonnie Badenhorst (Vanessa Pike), a policewoman attached to the special police unit investigating corruption, discovers the cabinet. Badenhorst, whose brother died in Angola, decides to remove the cabinet and hide it without informing her colleagues.

A group of brilliant newly graduated doctors are thrown together in the corridors of the Beyers Naudé Academic Hospital, where they perform miracles to save the lives of their patients - regardless of the cost to themselves.

A south African series that takes place in the work and life environment of the emergency response task force, where the pressure is sky high and the room for error is tiny. Now that the task force has just been set up by the Western Cape police - as a way to combat the rapidly increasing cases of missing persons in South Africa - the members of the task force have a seemingly impossible task at hand: to find the missing persons in Cape Town and bring them home one by one.

Mooiweer en Warm is a South African, Afrikaans-language television drama series which revolves around the lives of the weekend hawkers at a small town church.