A wild safari
Three families find out the hard way that there is more than just wildlife trying to kill you as The Wild moves to free-TV.
When soapie The Wild (2011-2013) first aired on M-Net, it was unique in many ways. It was shot on location in Heidelberg and the cast and crew took daily commutes of more than an hour from Johannesburg. It was filmed entirely in high- definition. And it also tackled thorny issues that have become more relevant than the actors could’ve predicted. “Looking back, it was kind of prophetic on land issues that have been making headlines since last year,” says Nat Ramabulana (Tenda on Venda soapie Muvhango, 1997- current). His character is the flamboyant and greedy Khumo Lebone, who is at the centre of the drama. “It [land] is what the entire show was based on. Who would have thought? Racial tension was part of the storyline, but the cast got on really well. We came from different acting backgrounds and made magic onscreen. Today we [the country] still sit with the same racial problems, which is quite sad,” adds Nat.
NOT YOUR LAND
The Wild is set at the five-star Dinaledi Game Lodge on a stretch of land that everyone is fighting over. Because they all lay claim to the property, the Tladi, Lebone and Van Reenen families have never got along and while they’re all involved with the running of the lodge, they still have their differences. “The script was incredibly good. It balanced tackling the sticky issues back then,” admits Ian Roberts. His bitter character Karel van Reenen lost the land to the Lebones and Tladis many years earlier, when it was open ground. The property was rich in wildlife and fertile for farming, but much to Karel’s anger, the Lebones and Tladis built Dinaledi. “It [the game lodge] is something that isn’t supposed to be on this beautiful piece of bushveld,” adds Ian.
FREE… ONLY ON E.TV
It’s been seven years since Nat filmed The Wild and he’s excited about watching it again on e.tv. “It was quite some time ago for me, so it’s exciting to see a show that I did before I was married and had kids! What’s great is that the ground-breaking work we did back then will now be available to a wider audience.” Ian agrees, saying that “it will be interesting to see how much younger I looked back then. But we did a good job and it’s great that a new audience will experience it now for the first time”.
THE DRAMA
If there wasn’t enough action playing out onscreen, the team faced drama offscreen too in July 2011. The set had to be evacuated when a raging wildfire threatened to destroy the property and sets. A couple of actors also quit, including Nat in October 2011. He says that it was over another topical matter that has ironically come true with e.tv airing the soap: “The cast were told that we wouldn’t get royalty payments for future airings, so I left. It is totally unfair” – he immediately joined The Girl In The Yellow Dress at The Market Theatre and he was cast in May 2012 as Dr William in soapie Rhythm City (2007- current).
More bad luck came in August 2012 when the show was cancelled, with the final episode airing in March 2013. The
massive production cost-versus-viewership was cited as the official reason – this included rental for the location, filming in high- def and other costs like transport to and from set. “We were floored and surprised when we were told,” says Ian. “It was awful shooting that last week in November 2012. We felt so betrayed and unwanted.”
FUN WHILE IT LASTED
Ian and Nat are quick to point out that working on The Wild was unlike anything they’d done before. “We were a family looking out for each other,” says Ian. “I mean ‘looking out’ as in with our eyes – we were cautious of filming in the bushveld because you never know what unexpected visitor might show up.” While Ian adds that he was okay with anything except spiders, Nat’s issue was a bit more slippery: “Sometimes there were snakes on set and I am completely scared of snakes.”