Buurtwag (Neighbourhood Watch) is a South African television sitcom created by Beer Adriaanse and Jaco Smit as an adaptation of the 2012 feature film Die Buurtwag, which tells the story of a young couple who find themselves crossing paths with an overly dramatic neighbourhood watch, having recently relocated to the Cape from Gauteng.
English Synopsis
Neighbourhood Watch is the story of a young married couple who, because of their fear of crime in Gauteng, decided to sacrifice their salaries and move to a Cape neighbourhood.
However, their new life turns out to be not quite so idyllic as after three months they have still not made any friends.
To make things worse, whilst away camping over a long weekend their house is stripped from top to bottom by thieves, forcing them to cross paths with their local neighborhood watch for the first time - a preposterous group that spends their nights patrolling the streets in the name of community safety, looking for any adventure they might find behind the boerewors curtain.
Buurtwag takes place in a post-recession South Africa and tells of strangers who become a community and, with a co-existence that gets more peculiar by the day, come to the conclusion that survival is a team sport and that safety isn't in places, but in people.
The series is written and directed by Beer Adriaanse and produced by Nouvanaand Films. Producers include Zandre Coetzer, Scharl van der Merwe, Johan Cronje and Beer Adriaanse. The music is by Francois de Klerk, with additional musicians Mojo Jojo and Kabu Aftiaans.
Afrikaans Synopsis
Buurtwag is die verhaal van 'n jong getroude paartjie wat weens hul vrees vir misdaad in Gauteng, besluit om hul salarisse op te offer en na 'n Kaapse woonbuurt toe te trek.
Hulle nuwe lewe in die Kaap draai egter nie so idilies uit nie en ná drie maande het hulle nogsteeds nie vriende gemaak nie.
Boonop alles word hulle huis een langnaweek terwyl hulle gaan kamp het rot en kaal besteel wat maak dat hulle vir die eerste keer paaie kruis met hulle plaaslike buurtwag - 'n aweregse spul wat in die naam van gemeenskapsveiligheid die strate in die aande patroleer op soek na enige avontoer wat die boereworsgordyn bied.
Die Buurtwag speel in 'n post-resessie Suid-Afrika af en vertel van vreemdelinge wat 'n gemeenskap word en, met 'n samelewing wat by die dag vreemder raak, besef dat oorlewing 'n spansport is en dat veiligheid nie in plekke nie, maar in mense lê.