Speak out

Egoli
Show Times: Mo-Fri 18:30-19:00

Egoli is South Africa's longest running soap opera. It is also the first multi-lingual, multi-cultural soap opera broadcasted on South African television. Egoli revolves around the lives and dealings of the Edwards family, who owns the international automobile manufacturer, Walco. Other families’ lives are intertwined with the Edwards family either as friends or foes. The soap opera, which takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa, features characters from all spheres of life – from the influential business family and the ilk, to the average suburban family next door.
7de Laan
Show Times: Mo-Fri 18:30-19:00

7de Laan is a locally produced soap opera set in a fictional upper-middle class suburb of Johannesburg. The narrative plays out in a few select spaces, some of which include: the deli, coffee shop, sport store and the club. Within this closed setting the soap opera presents, up to a point, a liberal-pluralist utopia of “the nation in colour” where all the characters, regardless of age, gender, or social stratification interact homogeneously. It presents utopian images of community, working-class and ethnic solidarity, and personal friendship without necessarily interrogating what the impact of an alternative society might be.
Andries Plak
Show Times: Not showing at present

Andries Plak is a dramady set in the new millenium, about a white Afrikaans-speaking man in his fifties, Andries Melck, also known as Wit Andries, who lost his farm due to the Government’s land redistribution programme and decided to settle on vacant land in one of Johannesburg’s affluent, white English suburbs. Obviously upset by the sudden appearance of a shack in their neighbourhood, the residents allege that the land that Andries occupies falls in a bird sanctuary and that he is disturbing the habitat of a rare butterfly species. Moreover, they point out that white people should not be squatters – only black people are allowed to occupy land illegally. Andries' experiences as a squatter and with other squatters opens his eyes as he evolves into a compassionate champion for the rights of the underprivileged.
Begeertes
Show Times: Not showing at present

Begeertes is a series about the love intrigues and life dramas of a group of people in East-London. The main character, Anton Schoeman, is struggling to cope while taking care of his sick mother. Then his dream of earning his own fortune is made possible by the rich businessman, Hugo Wessels. Each of the characters finds it difficult to keep their past in the past. Anton learns the identity of his biological father; Hugo, whose wife and daughter died in an accident, marries a woman who tries to keep him ignorant of her past at all cost, while she also finds it difficult to fit into his social circle. Anton experiences love at first sight with Annalien – whose mother shot and killed her father. In Begeertes we also find the coloured Prins family whose matriarch, Bernadine, is a kind of surrogate mother for Anton.
Binnelanders
Show Times: Mo-Fri 18:00-18:30

Set mostly within a work environment, Binnelanders explores the ups and downs of doctors and nurses and their loved ones at the Binneland clinic in Pretoria. The cast reflects a rather limited multiracial Afrikaans speaking community. In Binnelanders there is a focus on success, achievement and status within the medical and other professions and different images of accomplishment and power are highlighted.
Erfsondes
Show Times: Tuesdays 19:30-20:30

The sins of the past and its impact upon the present is the central focus of the locally produced drama series Erfsondes. Erfsondes uses utopian images to provide a critique of the loss of community and its destruction by capitalist greed. This is done by portraying a consciousness that is very much aware of both the anxieties and the hopes that a “rainbow”-utopia might hold. Through the discourses generated in this programme, a picture develops about the current state of affairs with regards to Afrikaans/ South African identity.
Kompleks
Show Times: Thursdays 20:30-21:00

Kompleks is a satirical comedy show set on a golf estate. On the surface, it presents a secure and picture perfect setting, but we soon find out that the grass is not always greener on the other side. The show traces the lives of the people who spend their time on this exclusive golf estate as they live their seperate lives within the same confines. These include a family suddenly rich after winning the Lottery, a celebrity diva and her less famous and slightly cowered husband, rich school brats who live for pop culture, a retired intellectual, his student boader and a manic security guard.
Song vir Katryn
Show Times: Not showing at present

Song vir Katryn offers a contemporary view of an Afrikaans speaking community within the new South Africa. A more informal approach is taken to the Afrikaans dialogue, aiming to reflect the ‘changing times’. Afrikaans music is also put under the spotlight. Song vir Katryn depicts the lives (and relationship) of Jinx and Katryn, exploring their pasts, as well as the joys and obstacles they face. It also looks at how relevant issues such as drug addiction, AIDS and abuse impacts on lives.
Villa Rosa
Show Times: Mo-Th 19:30

Villa Rosa depicts the lives of a mixture of Afrikaans speaking characters within a Bloemfontein setting. Capitalistic dreams and desires are mostly at the order of the day, but relationships are also explored. These include relationships between friend and foe, young and old, but also romantic and family relationships. Villa Rosa sets forth various ideas and values about business, family, love and life in the new South Africa.
Ken Jou Laan
Show Times: Not showing at present

The newly launched quiz programme, Ken jou Laan, is looking for the ultimate 7de Laan fan. In this game show teams are quizzed on ther 7de Laan knowledge, some of the questions going as far back as the very first episode. Jan-Hendrik (Waldemar Schultz) presents the show and both viewers and actors (in their 7de Laan roles) take part in the game show.
Kruispad
Show Times: Not showing at present

In Kruispad the focus is not specifically on changing South African politics, but rather on the people within the changing times of the new South Africa. Kruispad depicts the lives of two Afrikaans families in the years between 1994-2007. It reflects on choices and consequences, as well as the impact of change within this time and setting. Kruispad sheds some light on how different factors can impact on family, work, friendship and love. Topical South African issues are also touched on, including crime and emigration.
Binnekring
Show Times: Not showing at present

In Kruispad the focus is not specifically on changing South African politics, but rather on the people within the changing times of the new South Africa. Kruispad depicts the lives of two Afrikaans families in the years between 1994-2007. It reflects on choices and consequences, as well as the impact of change within this time and setting. Kruispad sheds some light on how different factors can impact on family, work, friendship and love. Topical South African issues are also touched on, including crime and emigration.
Hester en Ester Bester
Show Times: Not showing at present

Coming soon!
Riemvasmaak
Show Times: Not showing at present

Riemvasmaak is a 4-part mini-series set in the Northern Cape town of Riemvasmaak, about the forced removals from the area in 1973 and the fight of one man to have the land reclaimed. While the series is based on the true story of the the Riemvasmaak community, it details a fictional account in which one Riemvasmaker, Jaco Allemans, defines and redefines himself as a man. He undergoes a process in which his initial defiance against white Afrikaner policies gives way to despair and loss, but also leads to the eventual rediscovery of a more mature self and his role as a leader of his people.
Getroud met rugby
Show Times: Wed. 14:00-15:00

Getroud met rugby, an Afrikaans drama series by Deon Opperman, was created in the spirit of the hit series Footballers’ Wives. The viewer never sees an actual rugby match, but the narrative centres around the lives of the members of a fictitious provincial rugby team called the Stryders. The series focuses on the scandals, marriages, sexual adventures and rugby politics behind the scenes and in the bedrooms of four rugby couples. The tabloid world of rugby and the accompanying politics is scrupulously depicted. Rugby, in itself almost a religion in South Africa, is the main source of the series’ many intrigues.
Triptiek
Show Times: Not showing at present

Directed and written by Jan Scholtz, Triptiek explores the intricate web spun by police and criminals. The plot centres on the schemes of Bibi Brinkman, Barry McGregor and Pietman Botha. Who can be trusted when money and diamonds are involved? In this crime-drama the line between good and bad sometimes blurs.
Wenners
Show Times: Not showing at present

This classic drama series depicts the lives of the teachers and children at Hartbeespoort High School and orphanage. Carl and Jackie Lindeman are new arrivals and they struggle to a just to their new surroundings. While still dealing with their father’s death and their mother’s poor health, life is further complicated by teenage struggles such as bullying.
Molly en Wors
Show Times: Fridays 15:00-15:30

Willie Esterhuizen’s Molly en Wors depicts the life of a South African middle class family. The story revolves around the problems and predicaments that Worsman, Molly (his wife) and their two children, Vaatjie and Blapsie, face. Issues of love, trust, family and raising children in this day and age are brought to the fore.
Impresario
Show Times: Fridays 8:30-9:00

This semi-documentary series explores the South African (Afrikaans) theatre, film and television industry. The lives and work of key figures are put under the spotlight, including the likes of Andre Rossouw, Sandra Prinsloo and Regardt van den Berg. This programme presents an interesting journey though the past and present.
Askies
Show Times: Fridays 18:00-18:30

Askies is a local television sitcom which follows a diverse group of adults who want to learn an indigenous language to improve their social status. The adults attend a Zulu Night Language School which is set in a pawn shop in Randburg – the only thing Frida got in her divorce settlement. In order to stay afloat Frida – an Afrikaans primary school teacher – uses her language skills, and the help of Persistance – the street smart tea lady – to teach a group of adults the Zulu language. Amidst the teaching she also has to try and avoid her landlord and wannabe gangster, Mike, who wants to turn the pawn shop into a nightclub. Askies features all eleven official languages but use mainly Afrikaans, English and Sotho – with English subtitles.
Dit wat stom is
Show Times: Thursdays 21:00-22:00

Dit wat stom is is set in Pretoria, mainly in a low-income neighbourhood in Pretoria-West.

Jan Meyer is a law student living with his aunt, Kokkie Sieberhage. When he finds out his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, he is willing to abandon his studies in order to take care of his child. His ex-girlfriend, Melanie, however, has no desire for this to happen. She denies that Jan is the father and plans to have the baby adopted.

Elri is a young, blond Genetics student and the apple of her father, the rich businessman Arnold Dekker’s eye. When her father dies tragically, it emerges that his seemingly successful company was in financial difficulties. Elri is left without a place to stay or an income. She undertakes to take care of her younger brother and they move to the same neighbourhood where Jan and his aunt stay while Elri tries to find out how her father’s business partner cheated them.

Here Jan and Elri’s paths cross and their fates are inextricably intertwined.