Q&A | Top TV moment of 2024: how 'Skeem Saam's' rape storyline broke SA

Since the first episode 15 years ago, Skeem Saam and its relatable cast have become a staple in South African homes. Breaking records and making household names out of its many faces, the teen drama-turned-soapie has locals glued to their screens hooked to the edutainment made famous by its cast and crew.

Late last year Seekay Buthelezi, Lethabo Mekoa and Vele Manenje turned heads with a sexual assault storyline. Mekoa's rebellious character Ntswaki got entangled in a rape scene with troublesome older man Toby played by Buthelezi. When Ntswaki did not consent, Toby coaxes her into sleeping with him after she made it clear she would like to leave the room they were in. The issue would snowball into a court case that would see Toby sentenced to 15 years in jail sparking a heavy debate among South Africans.

What sparked the idea to write the storyline involving Lethabo Mekoa and Sicelo Buthelezi?

As a writing team, we are always looking to write stories about real issues that affect young people. The ethos behind our show is exploring the notion of the journey to adulthood. That journey can be a minefield. Sometimes we have to confront the landmines on that journey. Consent is a big landmine, especially among young people but not exclusively to young people.

There is a pandemic of rape in our country. Too many incidents of rape or non-consensual sex between people in some sort of relationship or situation. We created and established the character of Ntswaki to be the sort of teenage girl people see a certain way: she dances on tables, she is sexually free, she goes to clubs and bars at night and so on.

On that night Ntswaki went to Toby’s house with the intention of having sex with him but during the encounter she changed her mind and said she didn’t want to do it any more. Toby should have listened, but instead he set about convincing her to carry on.

The storyline, like many before, is creating quite a buzz. What conversation was the team hoping to start when viewers watched the conclusion?

The conversation we hope to inspire is perhaps a healthy debate about what consent really is. But before debating, perhaps we might inspire our viewers to research and learn about consent.

As writers, we were also learning as we were creating this story and we were having debates ourselves as we were learning the real nitty-gritty of the law. Do we really know what consent is? Do we know that consent can be withdrawn at any moment, even in the middle of the sexual act? The story and its conclusion were developed and arrived at in close consultation with our legal advisers about how the law would play out in this case and what the potential consequences would be if Toby was found guilty.

Any message to viewers who may be struggling with why Buthelezi's character was jailed?

It is important to educate yourselves about consent. Toby was jailed because he committed a crime, but he didn’t know until he was on trial. He didn’t set out to commit rape. Rape occurred when he did not acknowledge that consent had been withdrawn. 

We hope to inspire honest conversations about these things among peers, between people in intimate relationships and maybe also between parents and children. The lack of knowledge and understanding about consent is one of the reasons rape is such a huge problem in our country.