Ses'Top La is a South African television sitcom created by Mandla N and produced by Black Brain Pictures as a spin-off from their sitcom City Ses'la which follows the characters of Themba and Phumzile who have moved up from the city to the greener pastures of Sandton, where they meet a whole new set of crazy characters that become a part of their new lives.
The show sees the couple having to grow up without the safety net of their former friends, navigate their way through all the ups and downs of married life, owning an up-market apartment, keeping up with the Joneses and everything in between.
The question is... can they afford the high life?
The series' main cast comprises Themba played by Mandla N. alongside award-winning small screen actress Busi Lurayi as the ghettolicious Phumzile.
The supporting cast in Season 1 includes Gideon (Trevor Gumbi) - the apartment's scheming security guard; Buseje (Lindiwe Ndlovu) - the cleaning lady from Malawi; and Thoko Chanel (Warren Masemola) – Phumi's new fabulous sidekick.
Aside from Mandla N and Busi Lurayi, returnees in Season 2 were Trevor Gumbi, Warren Masemola, Jason Goliath, Judy Ditchfield and Dambuza Mdledle. New cast members in Season 2 include Brenda Ngxoli as Pinky and Jamela Vuma (better known as Sgonondo) as Intelligent.
Produced by Black Brain Pictures, the executive producers of Ses'Top La are Tumi Masemola, Mandla N, TT Mbha, Lucy Witts and Nicci Fourie. The series was created by Mandla N and the head writer was Tiffany Jones Barbuzano (Seasons 1-2) and Reabetswe 'Rea' Moeti (Season 3).
Characters
Themba Khumalo
Themba is now a 31-year-old senior investment banker. After all the trials and tribulations of moving up and down the corporate ladder over the last five years, he is finally settled.
Unfortunately, with moving into such an expensive apartment and having married a woman whose thirst for cash has no end, Themba now has his sights set on making partner at the investment firm.
At home, things are pretty much the same. Themba makes the money and Phumi spends it. Themba is the grounded character in the show, and is primarily the voice of reason. He does have his moments of irrationality, but for the most part is the dependable, stable force.
Phumzile "Phumi" Khumalo
Phumzile, now a 29-year-old, stay-at-home, gold-digger wife, has much to do in her new apartment. From renovations to battling the body corp to eventually realizing that, somehow, she has to contribute to the household as well.
Phumzile is the whirlwind that Themba both loves and gets frustrated by. She seldom thinks things through and is often caught off guard.
The only thing she has at her advantage in this opulent, upmarket apartment complex, is her thuggish, streetwise manipulation and cunning nature. This serves up a lot of comedy when she uses her ghetto knowledge to solve upper class problems.
Gideon Gwinyimbuzi
Gideon is the dim-witted security guard that works at the reception of the apartment building. He has good intentions, but unfortunately he is constantly coming up with hairbrained schemes to make money fast.
From believing that he knows how to win the Lotto for sure, to filling old water bottles with tap water and reselling them, he is always trying to rope Themba into investing in his businesses. Inevitably they fail, but that doesn't dampen his spirits one bit.
His other weakness is the love of women, in each episode we often see him with "the catch of the day" - a new lady every day.
Buseje
Buseje is the Malawian maid Themba and Phumi inherit from the previous apartment owners. Through a series of weird circumstances, Buseje finds herself in the employ of the couple.
Even though Phumi tries to boss her around and undermine her existence, Buseje is a lot smarter than we all think. She is forever playing Phumi at her own game, getting more money than she should.
She does have a soft spot for Themba and often shares a joke behind Phumi's back, and feels guilty when she sees that Phumi's antics have affected Themba too.
She has a lot of guile and uses Phumi's belief that she is stupid to her advantage.
Oleshe
Oleshe is the rich, Nigerian, BEE neighbour that lives next door. He is everything that Themba could have been. He is a businessman but we never know what business as he never specifies.
Oleshe thinks he is a suave ladies' man and finds Phumi very attractive. And often mentions that he wants her to be his fourth wife.
He serves as Themba's nemesis and is constantly competing with him. The competition often dilapidates into the juvenile, with both men vying for Phumzile's attention as well as their own self worth.
Oleshe's comic flaw is that he has short man syndrome and uses his money to cover it. He also has a whole other life back home in Nigeria, including three wives.
And even though Phumi is attracted to what Oleshe has, her love for Themba always overcomes her temptation to start gold digging in a new gold mine.
Thokozani "Thoko" Chanel
Thokozani is a gay guy who lives in another apartment. He and Phumi quickly become friends based on their love for all things fabulous. He is an aspiring designer and works at Edgars Sandton.
Serving as Phumi's sidekick, Thoko is usually the first to jump to Phumi's defence and is always by her side when she demands Themba's credit card.
He is gay and single and that provides Phumi the opportunity to give him all sorts of messed up advice that more often than not, blows up in his face.