Die Vierde Kabinet (The Fourth Cabinet) is a South African mystery thriller television series created by Jan Scholtz and produced by Scholtz Films revolving around the hunt for a filing cabinet containing damning evidence of police corruption which unexpectedly surfaces after disappearing years previously.
The series originally aired on SABC2 from 9 May to 11 July, 1998, on Saturdays at 19h30. New episodes broadcast weekly and there are 10 hour-long episodes in the series. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadacst dates and times.
A rebroadcast of Die Vierde Kabinet premiered on SABC2 on Tuesday 31 July 2012, at 19h30. New episodes broadcast weekly.
Synopsis
Die Vierde Kabinet revolves around corruption in the police and the Organised Crime Unit, the hated internal investigation unit of the police who set traps for and spy on other police units to try and uncover corrupt members.
The same corrupt police attempt to turn the tables by trying to find information about who is in this specialised unit.
In 1993, shortly before the first democratic election in South Africa, a group of policemen rushed to get rid of files containing information about illegal police operations.
The files were placed in filing cabinets, taken to a secret place and destroyed with explosives. But in the atmosphere of panic and disorder a cabinet - the so-called "fourth cabinet" - got lost and was forgotten.
In 1997, Bonnie Badenhorst (Vanessa Pike), a policewoman attached to the special police unit investigating corruption, discovers the cabinet. Badenhorst, whose brother died in Angola, decides to remove the cabinet and hide it without informing her colleagues.
Thus begins the story of a feverish search that leads to violence and even murder.
Gys de Villiers (Bush Louw) and Elzette Maarschalk (Steffi Gouws) play the main roles in the series. The two are partners in a company, Logistics, Inc., that does courier work, including renting confidential storage space to customers. They own two old Cessnas, a van and a minibus.
The two become involved in the events when Bonnie hires Bush to remove the offending cabinet from the office where she works and place it in storage.
Frank Opperman plays Colonel Yster Swart from the Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit who is hot on the tail of the cabinet and prepared to do anything to get his hands on it.
Newcomer Yvonne van den Bergh plays the role of Captain Jolene Maas who infiltrates Badenhorst's unit. It was in her new office, which had been locked for years, where the cabinet was found.
Other actors in the cast include Hans Strydom, Fezile Mpela, Greg Melvill-Smith, Andrew Wilson, Sally Campher, Annelisa Weiland, Susan Coetzer, Andre Stolz, Marie Pentz, Heidi Mollentze, Anrich Herbst, Eloise Cupido, Jakkie Groenewald and Pieter de Bruyn.
Seasons
There are 10 hour-long episodes in one season. The series is exclusive to SABC2.
Season 1
Premiere: 9 May 1998 | Finale: 11 July 1998 | Saturdays, 19h30
Premiere: 31 July 2012 | Finale: 2 October 2012 | Tuesdays, 19h30