Gauteng Maboneng is a South African television sitcom created by Stephen Lorenzo, Joshua Rous, Luke Rous and Vusi Zion and produced by Rous House Productions and Engage Entertainment about a car mechanic and wannabe rapper from Maff-town, Lebo, who brings his aging Gogo and scheming best friend with him when he moves to Gauteng and finds out his uncle has died and left him a fortune.
The only catch is that Lebo has to look after his know-it-all niece, Sisi, while dodging his uncle's gold digging ex-wife Pearl, trying to charm Sisi's after school tutor, Thami and keeping the nerdy next door neighbour, Medupe, away from his niece.
Gauteng Maboneng is all about Lebo (Mahlubi Kraai in Season 1, Dr Malinga since Season 2), a fun-loving and free-spirited boy trapped in a man's body as he moves out of his comfort zone of working on cars and trying to make it as a rapper, and throws him into the upper class world of mansions, butlers and irritating nieces who require a lot more responsibility than he's used to.
When Lebo gets the call that he's inherited a large fortune, he dumps his job as a mechanic at a custom car body shop in Bop, packs everything he owns into a couple shopping packets and hot foots it to Jo'burg and the fortune waiting for him on "easy street".
The only little problem is one of the requirements of the last will and testament his uncle left for him is that he is now the new legal guardian of his niece, Sisi (Palesa Ntshihlele), a highly opinionated and difficult teenager who prefers horse back riding to hip-hop.
In order to get any of the money left to him, Lebo has got to stay in the mansion and look after Sisi - something he has no idea how to do...
Waiting in the wings for him to mess up is Lebo's uncle's gold digging widow Pearl (Charmaine Mtinta in Season 1, Noxolo Maqashalala since Season 2), who's next in line for the massive fortune and is anything but pleased with Lebo's presence in what she refers to as "her house".
Determined to get rid of Lebo, Pearl hires Thami (Chumisa Cosa), an after school tutor for Sisi, to keep a close eye on Lebo and report any bad behaviour she will be able to use against Lebo to contest the will's stipulations that Lebo needs to be a responsible guardian.
Unfortunately for Pearl, the gorgeous Thami doesn't take long to capture Lebo's attentions, and as hard as this highly intelligent and well-groomed woman of class tries to take her job very seriously, she has difficulty keeping things strictly professional between Lebo and herself.
Lebo brings with him his grandmother who raised him. This spunky old Gogo (Linda Sebezo) is a little bit senile and immediately gets to "rural-izing" the new house, much to Pearl's dismay, who she constantly accuses of stealing her potjie pots she uses to cook instead of the state of the art cookware the mansion comes equipped with.
Solomon (Mandla Gaduka), one of Lebo's oldest and broke-est friends, also hitches a ride on the Lebo gravy train to the big city, and while he's waiting for one of his many crazy schemes to pull through and make him a millionaire, he works as the gardener/butler/house servant at the newly dubbed "Lebo Manor".
The last character to complete the ensemble is Medupe (Given Stuurman in Season 1) and Mo (Mpho Sibeko in Season 2 and Oros Mampofu in Season 3), the next door neighbour and Sisi's very nerdy class mate.
Medupe/Mo has a good heart, and all he really wants is to go out with Sisi, but his chronic asthma and allergies hold him back from being the knight in shining armour he tries to be and keeps Sisi looking down her nose at him.
Pearl and Gogo share a love hate relationship - they both love to hate each other. While Lebo is forced into the uncomfortable position of "man of the house" he can always rely on Solomon for a piece of truly bizarre wisdom, and Sisi to make his life harder with her high school antics and teenage problems.
This is a fish out of water and into the frying pan story where Lebo has to learn that it's never too late to start growing up and Sisi has to learn it's never to late to stop.
The laughs keep rolling as Lebo brings his unique carefree flavour into a dull and otherwise boring house to make it a home, pulling this group of misfits into a family in Gauteng Maboneng!
The working titles of the show were Jabba Time and Jozi Maboneng.
Broadcast Notes
The series originally premiered on SABC1 on 20 April, 2011. The first season later repeated on SABC2 and three years later - when Season 2 was made - first-run rights moved to SABC2.