Key art for Season 1
The moral of this story: if you're planning on creating a new soapie or telenovela DO NOT let its name start with an "I".
Inkaba, Isidingo, Isipho and now Isibaya... gone!
After months of speculation, rumour and silence from Mzansi Magic, the channel has eventually ended their extended holiday on information and has confirmed to TVSA that Isibaya has been cancelled after eight seasons and 2026 episodes.
This from Nomsa Philiso, Channel Director for Local Entertainment Channels at M-Net:
Nomsa: "It's always sad when a show that was popular and loved ends, as it is the case with Isibaya. However, times change and television is about adopting and adapting.
As Mzansi Magic, we are thrilled about the new partnership with Black Brains Productions. They will be bringing in fresh content that is innovative and captivating. Furthermore, the other exciting element is the fact that this is their first telenovela production.
It is a great opportunity for Black Brains to broaden their base and creativity. Our platforms are fundamentally created to help producers to grow and reach new frontiers."
The new show has a working title of Diepsloot and the rumour circulating gossville is that Uzalo's Dawn Thandeka King will be starring in it.
Uzalo creators Stained Glass TV are remaining hush-hush on MaNgcobo's future,
telling TVSA on Thursday that they're unable to comment on whether or not she's leaving Uzalo because "it is still an ongoing internal discussion."
We wouldn't be surprised if it's true though considering the close ties between Stained Glass TV and Black Brain Pictures e.g. Season 1 of eHostela was produced by Stained Glass and
Season 2, which premiered on Mzansi Magic last week, is produced by Black Brain.
Season 2 is written by Uzalo executive producers Gugu Zuma-Ncube and Mmamitse Thibedi, and Uzalo's new head writer Clive Madiya so they might want to switch Dawn from one show to another if they're also involved with Diepsloot.
While all this goes on behind-the-scenes, Isibaya has a couple of months left on air.
As Imbewu side-eyes The Curse. Will it be next?