Updated on Friday 25 February 2022
Please note: The Estate was saved on SABC1 after we published this article on Wednesday 23 February 2022.
On Friday 25 February the SABC announced that The Estate will remain on the channel for the full 156-episode first season, ending with a double bill on Friday 8 April.
It isn't clear whether or not The Executives and Ses'Top La will take over the 19h30 timeslot from Monday 11 April nd Thursday 14 April respectively. We'll keep you posted when we know.
This is the original article...
You're never going to believe it TV lovers... but actually, you will!
More disrespectful, thoughtless scheduling from the SABC who are now having a laugh at how easy it is to get away with such ridiculousness.
Just as SABC1 viewers had grown accustomed to The Estate in the 19h30 timeslot, it's been yanked with only
one month left until the end of Season 1.
It's remaining on S3 but gone from SABC1 from Monday 7 March, replaced by a new telenovela called The Executives, on Mondays to Wednesdays.
Season 5 of Ses'Top La will air on Thursdays and Fridays.
New is good, yes, BUT just canning The Estate like this is nasty, especially considering its most popular episode on SABC1 in January
attracted over 1.7-million viewers.
Those viewers have been discarded like yesterday's news. How does that make you feel?
1.7-million South Africans committed to the story and now they're being ditched for no reason.
At the very least the show could have changed time if The Executives is so precious and needs the 19h30 timeslot but The Estate is completely gone.
Alternatively SABC1 could have run a weekend omnibus for viewers who want to keep watching.
Presumably the SABC hopes SABC1's Estate viewers won't care that they've missed huge chunks of the storyline and will now tune into S3 for it but, as we know, viewers don't tune into S3 in the same way.
Also, why should they be forced to miss out when they've committed so much time to it?!
We wish we had news that made more sense dearest reader but unfortunately it's a mind-boggling mess.
As for this new show The Executives... it's a power suit type story about Bonginkosi Khumalo, played by Lesley Musina. He's a hot shot who rose to power very quickly and now he's in the line of fire after skeletons emerge.
He needs to save his marriage, career and family by taking responsibility and rebuilding the bridges that were burnt through his selfish and reckless behaviour.
Newcomer Princess Pamela Zulu plays his wife Nobantu in her first TV role.
Others in the cast include Camilla Waldman, Gcina Nkosi, Daniel Hadebe, Refilwe Modiselle, Llewellyn Cordier and Fezile Makhanya.