# Isidingo

Isidingo was a South African soap opera, with dialogue mostly in English and isiXhosa. The series premiered on SABC 3 in July 1998 and was broadcast evenings on SABC 3 from Monday to Friday at 19:00. Until 2001 it was titled Isidingo: The Need.
Created by Gray Hofmeyr, the story is loosely based on another popular soap opera created by Hofmeyr, The Villagers, that was broadcast during the apartheid era in South Africa. Former series Head Writers include Neil McCarthy, Mitzi Booysen, Ilse van Hermert, Christian Blomkamp, Busisiwe Ntintili, Loyiso Maqoma, Liam J Stratton, Rosalind Butler, Rohan Dickson, Bongi Ndaba, and Duduzile Zamantungwa Mabaso.
On 29 November 2019, the SABC announced that the production had been cancelled, with the final broadcast being aired on 12 March 2020.

## Premise

The main characters include the Haines family, the Matabanes, Vusi Moletsane the mine manager and the various residents of the boarding house owned by Maggie Webster. Barker Haines, owner of ON TV, is a high-living billionaire who often schemes his way into the lives of various people in and out of the mining town of Horizon Deep, notably his daughter Leone. The Matabanes are a close-knit family who comprise a stronghold, of sorts, in the populace of Horizon Deep, with Zebedee as the patriarch. Other central characters are Lolly De Klerk, Frank Xavier, Parsons Matibane, Georgie Zamdela and Calvin Xavier and the late Sello Motloung as Bazooka.

## List of characters

* Lincoln Sibeko (Lindani Nkosi)
* Kgothalo Letsoalo (Katlego Danke)
* Nikiwe Sibeko (Linda Sokhulu)
* Nina Zamdela (Khabonina Qubeka)
* Obakeng Zamdela (Anga Makubalo)
* Sechaba Moloi (Motlatsi Mafatshe)
* Ntando Sibeko (Loyiso McDonald)
* Samuel Gatanga Masilo (Amos Ketlele)
* Shadrack Bhekiziswe Sibiya (Thulani Mtsweni)
* Makgorometsa (Vusi Jim Makwela)
* Anja Lategan (Lee Visagie)
* Zandre Lategan (De-Andre Reinders)
* Lalage Lategan (Elma Postma)
* Wendy Van Onselen (Michelle-Beling Pretorius)
* Morongwa Kau (Soso Runqu)
* Detective Majola (Yonda Thomas)

### Former characters

* Georgie Zamdela (Darlington Michaels)
* Agnes Matabane (Keketso Semoko)
* Godlieb Mofokeng (Rapulana Seiphemo)
* Angelique Scott (Shannon Esra)
* Aphiwe Nzimande (Khanya Mkangisa)
* Benjamin Le Roux (Arno Marais)
* Zebedee Matabane (Mlangeni Nawa)
* Barker Haines (Robert Whitehead)
* Lerato Tsotetsi
* Elize Haines (Lynne McCarthy)
* Kamogelo Tsotetsi (Makgotso Monyemorathoe)
* Sammy (Tony Kgoroge)
* Katlego Sibeko (Kgomotso Christopher)
* Cherel de Villiers (Michelle Botes)
* Derek Nyati (Hlomla Dandala)
* Dusty da Silva (Milan Murray)
* Bradley Haines (Izak Davel)
* Calvin Xavier (Maurice Paige)
* Priya Kumar (Leeanda Reddy)
* Rajesh Kumar (Jack Devnarain)
* Tiffany Steyn (Carmen Pretorius)
* Samantha Sharma (Zakeeya Patel)
* Charlie Holmes (Michaella Russell)
* Frank Xavier (Kevin Smith)
* Sizwe Zondile (Jet Novuka)
* Harriet Thompson (Grethe Fox)
* Joey Ortlepp (Nathalie Boltt)
* Len Cooper (Chris Beasley)
* Kimberly Lewis (Marisa Drummond)
* Kyle Ortlepp (Owen Meyer)
* Kieran Harriman (McGregor)
* Leone Haines (Ashley Callie)
* Lesedi Moloi (Gugulethu Zuma)
* Letti Matabane (Lesego Motsepe)
* Lolly van Onselen (Kim Engelbrecht)
* Maggie Webster (Karin Van Der Laag)
* Nandipha Sithole (Hlubi Mboya)
* Elise Buller (Nicola Jackman)
* Natasha Wallace (Jo da Silva)
* Parsons Matabane (Tshepo Maseko)
* Paul McPherson (Carl Beukes)
* Erin McPherson (Tessa Jubber) – 2005
* Philippa de Villiers (Bianca Amato) – 1998–2001
* Pradashan Naiker
* Sean Kumar (Silvem Pillai)
* Siyanda Mazibuko
* Stella Fouche (Judy Ditchfield)
* Jaseel Gonasalen (Ishq Pitamber)
* S'khumbuzo Nzimande (Sisa Hewana)
* Zukisa Zondile (Noluthando Meje)
* Yvette (Charmaine Weir Smith)
* Janine (Caitlin Kilburn)
* Steve Stethakis (Emmanuel Castis)
* Stuart Buller (Colin Moss) – 1998–2000
* Ted Dixon (Clive Scott)
* Tim Wilson (Nathan Ro)
* Elize (Lynne McCarthy)
* Tommy "Mad Dog" McCulum (David James) – 2004–2006
* Vusi Moletsane (Meshack Mavuso)
* Yvette Meyer (Shannon Esra) – 2004
* Zak (Fikile Mthwalo)
* Zebedee Matabane (Don Mlangeni)
* Parsons Matabane (Tshepo Maseko)
* Dr Beth McNamara (Mary Ann Barlow)
* Gabriel Mothusi (Aubrey Poo)
* Hendrik Lategan (Gérard Rudolf)
* Lungi Biyela (Jo-Anne Reyneke)
* Sluleka Lee (Leslie Fong)
* Rosemary Zimu (Rosemary Zimu)

## Major character exits

Actress Michelle Botes, who had played villainess Cherel De Villiers since Isidingo's 1998 debut, announced her imminent departure from the series in October 2006, a week after being "snubbed" by The South African Television Awards (though Isidingo had taken home the most awards). Botes next portrayed Ingrid in the rival soap Binnelanders, which directly competed with Isidingo on the pay-channel M-Net. She returned to Isidingo from 2010 to 2013.
Soon after winning the Best Actress Award at the South African Film and Television Awards for her portrayal of Leone "Lee" Haines, 32-year-old actress Ashley Callie died following a car accident in February 2008. The role was not recast, and the character was written out by having Lee gone missing as she didn't show up for work, and later revealed she had died in a deserted field without specifying her cause of death.
Six months after Callie's death, the series killed off original character Letti Matabane (played by actress Lesego Motsepe) in a similar car accident, prompting a "nationwide outpouring of grief".

## Legacy

Isidingo was the first South African TV show to feature a gay kiss, which saw the characters Steve and Len kiss. It also made history when it screened the first gay wedding on South African television when the characters Steve and Luke wed. This episode was broadcast just days after same-sex marriage was legalised in South Africa in 2006. The show's executive producer Pumla Hopa explained how Isidingo was different from other soapies at the time: "The thing that sets us apart is that we deal with issues in society from homosexuality, xenophobia, mixed marriages and HIV-Aids. We introduced a different style of storytelling".