Bad Influencer
Channel: Netflix South Africa
TX Time: 09h00 (all episodes)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Miniseries
Crime drama which follows small-time con artist and single mom BK, who - to provide for her special needs son - teams up with wannabe luxe influencer Pinky to sell fake luxury handbags online.
Their scheme draws the attention of Bra Alex, a notorious criminal in a counterfeiting syndicate, as well as law enforcement.
Caught between criminals and cops, the unlikely duo must outfox both to stay out of jail, survive and thrive.
The bright lights of social media collide with the shadows of desperation in Bad Influencer, which blends crime drama with social commentary as the seven-part series balances high-stakes survival with the glossy illusions of influencer culture.
The series unfolds in a world where everyone is faking it until they're found out.
In a city that thrives on appearances, two women are pulled into a dangerous double life – one lived online, the other in the underworld.
At its heart is BK (Jo-anne Reyneke), a street-smart single mom whose greatest hustle is protecting her son.
Destiny puts her in the path of Pinky (Cindy Mahlangu), a rising influencer with flair and chaos to spare.
Both broken in their own ways, they spark a combustible partnership that thrives on ambition and risk.
Together, BK and Pinky descend into Jo'burg's counterfeit economy, selling fake luxury handbags.
Fame and fraud become indistinguishable, likes and lies trade places, and instinct demands they walk the knife-edge between heart and hustle.
In the shadows, darker forces stir; Bra Alex (Vincent Mahlape) and Jobs 'Flames' Jiyane (Hamilton Dlamini) rule the city's underbelly with ruthless authority.
Their presence is a constant reminder that in Jo'burg's relentless grind, there is always a bigger predator.
The cast includes former Miss South Africa, Zozibini Tunzi, in her first major acting role alongside Emmanuel Castis, Nat Ramabulana, Julia Anastasopoulos, Kamohelo Pule, Aubrey Poo, Modise Motaung, Brendon Daniels, Thapelo Mokoena and Lerato Nxumalo.
The series also features Relebogile Mabotja, Masasa Mbangeni, Zikhona Sodlaka and Tina Jaxa, along with cameo appearances from various influencers, including Mihlali Ndamase, Sarah Langa and Mohale Motaung.
TVSA Show Page: Bad Influencer
Witches of Essex
Channel: HISTORY (DStv 186)
TX Time: 20h15
Genre: Documentary Series, Docu-Drama, History
Behind Essex's beautiful coastlines and TOWIE glamour lies a dark history, rooted in suspicion, the supernatural, misogyny, torture and death.
Essex resident Rylan teams up with anthropologist Professor Alice Roberts to investigate one of the darkest and most harrowing chapters in Essex's history, that witnessed the murder of hundreds of innocent women accused of witchcraft.
Fascinated by the supernatural, Rylan is Mulder to Alice's Sculley, this historical crime mystery investigates the truth behind the most infamous witch trials in England.
Each episode centres on a specific witch trial, with Rylan and Alice opening a cold case into the stories behind some of the women accused of witchcraft during the 16th and 17th centuries, many of whom were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
They visit the towns and villages in Essex where the women lived and died.
Guided by original court documents plus a crack team of historians, psychologists and medical experts, together in their incident room, they explore these women's lives, alleged crimes and trials, with each story brought to life through scenes of vivid and often disturbing scripted drama.
Why were these women found guilty of witchcraft, and what (or who) drove their persecution?
Kicking off with the first Chelmsford Witch Trial held in 1566, Alice and Rylan examine the case of a family of poor women from nearby Hatfield Peveril.
Agnes Waterhouse, her daughter Joan and her sister Elizabeth face Queen Elizabeth's Attorney in a test trial of a newly passed Act of Parliament making witchcraft a felony, punishable by death.
Episode 2 covers the 1582 St Osyth witch hunt, where a petty feud between two peasant women grows to engulf the entire village.
Healer and cunning women Ursley Kempe falls out with her former friend Grace Thurlowe, and with the ambitious local magistrate whipping up anti-witch hysteria, one of the largest witch hunts of the Elizabethan era takes hold.
Finally, Episode 3 explores the rise of the self-styled Witch Finder General Matthew Hopkins who in 1645, amid England's chaotic Civil War, starts his reign of terror in the coastal town of Manningtree.
Disabled local woman Bess Clarke suffers abuse and torture along with her young friend Rebecca West, as Matthew and his cronies seek to rid Essex of witches by any means possible.
Mike Brewer: Born Dealer
Channel: Discovery Channel (DStv 121)
TX Time: 21h05
Genre: Reality, Motoring
Motor trader Mike Brewer has been buying and selling cars on our TV screens for 27 years.
But now he's facing real world challenges; a brand-new car dealership and the restoration of an old manor house.
Has he bitten off more than he can chew?
In the series premiere: Mike Brewer tests the market with a customised pick-up.
Mrs Brewer hatches an expansion plan, and the team take on an 1980s hot hatch restoration.
Scariest House in America 2
Channel: HGTV (DStv 177)
TX Time: 22h00
Genre: Reality, Paranormal, Supernatural
The search for the USA's most spine-tingling properties will continue when Retta returns for six new episodes of Scariest House in America.
The series follows actress, comedian and home design enthusiast Retta as she travels the US to tour 15 more petrifyingly paranormal or horrifically hideous houses whose owners say are haunted by scary stories and hair-raising sights.
This season, the frightening finds will include a former funeral home with a basement morgue, a house situated on a graveyard and a property that resembles a witch's hat - all where spooky shadows lurk, lights flicker and strange noises abound.
In each episode, Retta will share unfiltered views about each home's scary appearance, un-livability and fright factor.
HGTV will ultimately deem one house the "scariest" of them all and award the homeowners a $150,000 renovation by network designer Alison Victoria in the finale.
In the Season 2 premiere, "The Eerie East": This episode highlights eerie homes in the East, from a centuries-old, ghost-filled Maryland estate, to a historic haunted house in Connecticut with a creepy attic and an 1800s Georgia jail offering unexplained sights and sounds.
The Request
Channel: Mzansi Wethu (DStv 163)
TX Time: 18h30
Genre: Reality
No detours, no filters - this is the real ride behind the e-hailing hustle.
The Request takes you into the daily grind of e-hailing drivers across the country, who move through the streets while carrying their own stories, struggles and dreams.
It's an unfiltered look at what goes down with each request - from wild passenger stories to the personal battles these brave men face while chasing that next request.
The series pulls back the curtain on the lives and struggles of these drivers and their passengers.
There is danger, deep chats, dodgy passengers and other eye-opening moments.
Every ride has a driver, and every driver has a story.
In the series premiere: Mncedisi Nqeketho is a resilient e-hailing driver who has faced the harsh realities of hijacking and kidnapping, issues that affect South Africa's e-hailing industry.
Every fare is crucial, and every shift is a risk.
The Hockey Stick Killer
Channel: eReality (Openview 108)
TX Time: 21h40
Genre: True Crime, Documentary
Graeme Eadie was driving his two young sons home from their grandparents' house.
In the car in front, Kevin Duncan was driving dangerously, overtaking and slowing down with his headlights on full.
So when they reached an intersection, Eadie jumped out of his car, grabbed his hockey stick and proceeded to beat Duncan to death.
What causes this kind of radical, crazy road rage? Is it an individual's mania, or is there a social cause?
Witches: Truth Behind the Trials
Channel: Disney+
TX Time: 10h00
Genre: Documentary Series, Docu-Drama
Why were thousands of people, mostly women, executed for an impossible crime?
Six terrifying true stories from Europe and America uncover the truth.
The six-part series brings the world of so-called witches and witch-hunters vividly to life using cinematic recreations and testimony from the most respected historians and experts working in the field today.
The events surrounding six of the world's worst and most fascinating witch trials are brought to life with contemporary interpretation and analysis shedding a fresh light on the reasons for these terrifying deaths and miscarriages of justice.
With stories from Germany, Scotland, England, Sweden, the USA and Ireland.
Bad Girls Bootcamp
Channel: Mzansi Magic (DStv 161)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Reality
Six troubled young girls are on a new journey to seek help or risk losing their loved ones.
When the series begins, we meet the girls and follow their journeys as they enter the boot camp.