THE scramble to win the hearts and minds of Mzansi soapie lovers among the country’s leading entertainment channels is set to continue in 2016, judging by the latest SA Television Authority ratings. The SABC1’s youth drama series
has been toppled from the summit by the new gangster series flighted on the same channel, with the re-worked
, now with The Legacy tag, second and SABC2’s on third position, during prime time viewing.
The latest SATV Authority top 10 regular shows figures, as at the end of last year, show that airing at 8.30pm just after , has more than seven million viewers every night.
Their direct competition at DStv s Mzansi Magic, does not feature in both the top-five soap operas list nor in the top 10 of the most watched regular shows.
Publicised as a provocative, bold and authentic narrative” created and produced by president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Gugu ZumaNcube, Pepsi Pokane and
producer Duma Ndlovu in 2014, is a story about two feuding families, the Xulus and the Mdletshes.
Set in the Durban township of Kwa-Mashu, the rival families’ lives are contradictory, involving the fearing of God but the extreme being crime, deceit and gang violence. At the centre of the plot, panelbeating crime boss Muzi Xulu, popularly known as Gxabhashe, played by Mpumelelo Bhulose, rises from the dead to continue to torment his nemesis.
In second place of the top 10 regular shows is
which made its debut in December 2014 following the firing of the famous 16 principal actors when they demanded more money from the uncompromising creator Mfundi Vundla.
The old was the country’s favourite soapie until the actors’ dispute with their boss.
The new show has seen a number of actors leaving and has been struggling to gain popularity but the latest ratings show that it was slowly regaining its audience as the second most watched adult show.
It stars soapie darlings Connie Ferguson and Rapulana Seiphemo, who were part of the original cast, as well as Manaka Ranaka.
It would surely please Vundla when he learns that his baby was now the second-best watched soapie in the country.
The imminent exit of Ferguson was another black mark on the soapie because the story was centred around the Moroka dynasty of which she, acting as Karabo Moroka the matriarch, was core to the story line.
In third place is showing on SABC2 at 9pm every week night.
The plot revolves around the Mukwevho royal family and the Mojalefas never-ending war over business ventures.
The battle for power between the two families culminates in outright war over a family business.
The drama series introduces new faces and fresh talent every year and many viewers have warmed up to it but were recently disappointed by news that the Mojalefa family was to be discarded from the story line.
Actors who have made their mark in the multilingual drama series are the famous John Morapama, as Lerumo Mojalefa, the long-serving Sindi Dlathu as Thandaza and her on-screen hubby Ranthumeng Mokoena played by muso and public speaker Brian Themba.
The youth drama is fourth on the top 10 regular shows’ list although the series, with its story line based in a fictitious township of Turfloop in Limpopo, once rode the crest of the wave as the most-watched soapie after the old debacle but now rules the roost.
created by Winnie Serite, is about three teenagers who have to deal with difficult contradictions in their early lives that continue into their teens at high school and, later, at university where they struggle with manhood.
The three main protagonists are played by Thabo Mamabolo (Tbose), Clement Maosa (Zama) and Patrick Seleka (Kat).
e.tv s is fifth on the list of the top soapies but sixth on the top 10 regular shows.
The soapie is set at a tabloid newsroom and has Thembeka the super-bitch, played by Masasa Mbangeni. With the roping in of charismatic top actor Tumisho Masha playing Hector Thebe, a sophisticated but mysterious businessman, the soapie wars are far from over.
His purpose is still a mystery and maybe just a red herring, but the producers say he is set to change the entire landscape of
The SABC, e.tv and Mzansi Magic soapies wars seem to be headed for a showdown and another interesting year ahead.