lounge lizard rumblings

Home Affairs is an exciting new thirteen part series produced by Penguin Films to be broadcast on SABC1. Home Affairs is a powerful ensemble drama about South African women whose lives are very different, and yet are linked together by the force of synchronicity. It’s about the strong connections that people share, whether they are aware of them or not. If South Africa’s past has been characterised by separation, it seems fitting that ten years into our democracy we focus on the connections within our diverse multicultural society. This is the central theme of Home Affairs.

The focus of the series is women’s stories – stories which reflect the diversity of the millions of women found within our country. We focus on nine specific women who undertake journeys of self-discovery and reflection over the 13 episodes.

KATLEHO (Lerato Moloisane) is a drama student at university who has to reconcile the emerging sense of her African identity with her Eurocentric upbringing. Her journey collides with that of THANDEKA (International award winning actress Nthati Moshesh) - a highly driven NGO executive who dedicates her life to causes, but discovers that no cause can fill the void in her personal life - a void that began with her abandoning an infant child.

VUYOKAZI (Brenda Ngxoli) is one of the lives touched by Thandeka's organization. She uses sport as a way of elevating herself and escaping the misery of her home existence. Vuyo is not alone in her journey. She takes responsibility for the welfare of her younger sister, BULI (Yonela Duze).

NTOMBI (Bonnie Mbuli) is a flight attendant whose job reflects her life - she is never grounded, always on the go and only experiencing life and love in fleeting moments.

SHANTI (Sorisha Naidoo) is a doctor who has to balance the expectations of her family with listening to her own inner voice and being true to her heart.

Shanti’s work brings her into contact with CHERISE (Therese Benade). Cherise is in an abusive relationship. Her challenge is to find the strength within herself to save her own life - and the life of her unborn child.

KATHERINE (Jessica Haines) is Katleho's oldest friend who undertakes a journey of self-discovery to determine her identity as a white woman in post-apartheid South Africa - a country she still wants to call her home.

And then there is NANDI (Andrea Dondolo). She works in the home affairs office and has always lived vicariously through observing other people’s activities…until now.

The idea of an ensemble drama in which the characters are all connected through a chain of random interactions is a novel concept for a South African television series. It is a technique that has been used to great effect in films like Magnolia, Love Actually and Short Cuts. The filmmakers of Home Affairs have discovered that it is in fact an ideal technique for portraying the diverse stories of our country in an organic manner. The stories themselves pay tribute to the history of African women and all the trials they have had to face and the fact that they have survived to tell their stories.

In keeping with the SABC 1 maxim: ‘Ya mampela’, these stories are intensely real, but they are also inspirational. They are stories of struggle, but they are also stories of triumph - journeys towards self-discovery, love and empowerment. Home Affairs offers incredible scope for a dramatic exploration of women’s realities in South Africa – what keeps us apart as well as what draws us together. The stories themselves are full of pathos, complexity and humour; confronting head-on the reality of nine women’s lives and the unique challenges they face.

Of course, men are not discounted or vilified in this series. There are a number of male characters who play significant roles in the lives of the central female characters and these men are as diverse and balanced as their female counterparts.

An aspect of the production makes what is happening behind the scenes as unique as what audiences will see. For the first time in South African television history, all key creative positions have been filled by women: producer (Roberta Durrant), directors (Minky Schlesinger, Catherine Stewart), writers (Rosalind Butler, Lodi Matsetela, Makgano Mamabolo, Sacha Clelland-Stokes, Minky Schlesinger), director of photography (Natalie Haarhoff) and the cast.

Home Affairs promises to be a gripping, thought-provoking and moving series that illustrates a universal truth: women may come from different races, religions and backgrounds, be of different ages and speak different languages, but ultimately are not as different from each other as one may think. We are all human beings, all searching for the same things: Identity, love, happiness and acceptance. These are the things that the women of this series are searching for. SABC1 invites you to join their journey as we explore the affairs of their hearts, the affairs of their minds, and, most importantly, their Home Affairs.