Barley two years since its launch, DStv pay-channel Mzansi Magic is beginning to flex its financial muscle by producing its first telenovela, Inkaba, which the channel said was the biggest venture it has undertaken to date.
The John Kani-written telenovela - a limited-run drama series which, unlike soapies, has an ending - has been kept away from the time slot of sister channel M-Net's The Wild, which moved from 6pm to 7pm earlier this month.
Inkaba will premier on March 19 at 8.30pm (Monday to Thursday), and like The Wild, it will not clash with any of the big performers on free-to-air TV, including SABC1's Generations, e.tv's Rhythm Cityand ScandalandSABC3's Isidingo.
The show is expected to feature - like the long-standing US soapie The Bold and the Beautiful - two rival fashion houses, and is said to "depict South Africa's diverse social landscape with the glamorous but fickle fashion industry as the backdrop".
The Wild has since shown a worrying dip in viewership numbers since the change in time slot, according to figures from the SA Advertising Research Foundation.
Between January 2 and 12, the soapie - which features stars including Connie and Shona Ferguson, Tumisho Masha and Faye Peters - attracted an average of 109508 adult viewers (15 years and older), while between January 16 and 25 had around 35178 adult viewers.
Kani, who received the 2010 SA Film and Television's Lifetime Achievement award, has starred in the world-acclaimed musical Sarafina, and dramas such as Endgame, Soweto Green and Master Harold . and the Boys.
In addition to being the executive producer , Kani will also star in the show, which is rumoured to run for 208 episodes.
The channel said it will soon be announcing the man to replace Muzi "Clive" Ngwenya, who died of smoke inhalation at his mother's home in Soweto earlier this month. Ngwenya was hand-picked as one of the lead actors.
"The Inkaba production team has recast for the role and [is] close to finalising the casting process," said the channel.
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