Season 1
Soul City: Let's Rise is a South African television drama series following five young women navigating ambition, relationships, family expectations, identity, power and the challenges of growing up in contemporary South Africa.
It is a spin-off from the series Soul City, which aired on SABC1 from 1994 to 2015.
Set in Katlehong, the series combines drama with edutainment storytelling to explore intimate partner violence, gender equality, violence prevention, mental health, young women's agency and community action.
At the centre of Soul City: Let's Rise are five young women whose lives intersect as they navigate the hopes, pressures and contradictions of growing up in Katlehong Township.
They dream of education, successful careers, love, independence and better lives.
But along the way, they encounter relationships and systems in which money, status, gender, culture, faith and influence can be used to limit their choices and exercise power over them.
Their journeys explore what happens when young women begin to recognise that what they have been taught to accept as normal may not always be healthy and what becomes possible when they find the courage to choose differently.
Through their friendships, families and community, Soul City: Let's Rise tells a story not only about the danger's young women face, but about their agency, resilience and power to shape their own futures.
The cast stars Pule Buys as Samke, Lufuno Mdau as Rhulani, Bohlokoa Nkalai as Neo, Asibonge Ntuli as Thando and Neo Malaka as Siza.
Through these five young women, we will encounter different but interconnected experiences of growing up, finding one's identity and negotiating power in contemporary South Africa.
Their stories explore ambition, sisterhood, family, love, education, social media, mental health and emotional wellbeing and the pressures placed on girls and young women; while confronting the realities of intimate partner violence, coercive control, grooming, unequal relationships, social and generational expectations, faith, culture and the importance of community action.
Samke is ambitious, charismatic and determined to turn her growing social-media influence into opportunity.
Rhulani's journey brings mental health and emotional wellbeing into focus, exploring the consequences of trauma and the importance of seeking support.
Neo adds another perspective to the experiences of young women navigating relationships, identity and belonging.
Thando is determined to pursue her education and choose her own future, even as family, cultural and religious expectations threaten to determine it for her.
And Siza emerges as a force for collective action, creating spaces where young women can support one another and challenge the conditions that make violence possible.
Together, they represent what Let's Rise is ultimately about: young women refusing to be defined only by what happens to them but discovering the power to determine what happens next.
At the heart of the series is a simple but urgent question: What becomes possible when young women are supported to recognise their own power and rise together?
Soul City: Let's Rise is produced by Mindset Concept, supported by the Soul City Institute.