Last week Wicus Labuschagne and our VFX Producer Megan Portnoi-Calamas joined Netflix executives, filmmakers and on-screen talent in Johannesburg, for a press showcase marking ten years since the service launched in South Africa. Netflix used the occasion to announce its next slate of local series and films, and to put some numbers to the past decade: more than 300 South African titles added to the service, more than 8,000 jobs supported, and partnerships with over 30 local production companies, with stories shot across 20 cities in eight provinces.
“Ten years ago, we set out to share South African stories and voices with the world and today, we are proud to strengthen our partnership with the local creative industry,” said Ben Amadasun, VP of Content for Netflix Middle East and Africa. “Our slate ahead keeps that ambition alive with the addition of established names alongside bold new production partners across genres from unscripted to thrillers, family dramas and comedy.”
Why this matters to us
Midnight VFX has been part of this story from the invisible end of the pipeline. Six Netflix titles sit in our project list, and two of them, Blood & Water and Fatal Seduction, were named at the showcase among the productions that defined the decade. We delivered VFX on Blood & Water Season 4 for Gambit Films, and on-set supervision and VFX on Fatal Seduction Season 2 for Ochre Media, a series that reached third place on Netflix’s global Top 10 in its opening week.
The biggest of them is The Polygamist, for Stained Glass Productions. Our team delivered 221 shots, including more than 100 shots tracking the physical decline of Sdumo Mtshali’s character Jonasi, built from a 3D scan of the actor’s face and sculpted stage by stage with blendshapes. Netflix singled it out as one of the decade’s standout successes: over 24 million views in its first weeks, a Top 10 placing in 62 countries and the number one spot in more than 20. Sue Nyathi’s 2012 novel, on which the series is based, saw its sales triple after the Netflix debut.
Alongside those, we supervised and delivered the market smoke, car crash and shootout sequences on Bad Influencer for Gambit Films, rebuilt Blitz-era London for the documentary Churchill at War for Imagine Documentaries and built the aircraft and fireworks work for the Plettenberg Bay romance-comedy Yoh! Bestie for BBZee Films. Hearing the scale of the audience for these shows, in a room full of the people who made them, was a useful reminder of what local crews are capable of when the work travels.
The slate ahead
The announcement covered returning titles, new series and new production partners.
Returning seasons and sequels. Blood Legacy Season 2 launches on 25 September, with the Ndlovu family’s business and survival under threat as secrets about the origins of their empire resurface. Seriously Single Too, directed by Rethabile and Katleho Ramaphakela, and Another Disaster Holiday (11 December), directed by Rethabile Ramaphakela, both arrive later this year. Tuiskoms Season 2, Marked Season 2 and Meet the Khumalos 2 are at various stages of production.
New series. The How to Ruin franchise expands with How to Ruin Diwali: Meet The Parents, launching 30 October, from Burnt Onion Productions with producer Jayan Moodley and Urban Vision. The comedy follows Mmabatho Nkomo, a perfectionist who meets her fiance’s traditional Indian family for the first time and, days before Diwali, accidentally exposes her future father-in-law’s affair.
New partners and unscripted. Love is Blind: South Africa, produced by afrOkaans, will be hosted by Dineo and Zothile “Solo Ntsizwa” Langa and is slated for release later this year. Stars and Vows: Anele & Buzza, a wedding docu-soap following Anele Mdoda and Bonelela “Buzza James” Mgudlwa, comes from Dopezuluboi Productions in co-production with BrightFire Productions, who also have a new dating reality format in development. Netflix further confirmed a new scripted series with The Bomb Shelter Film Productions and a four-series partnership with Tshedza Pictures.
Marked Season 2, created by Akin Omotoso, Sydney Dire and Steven Pillemer, follows Babalwa deeper into the criminal underworld. Meet the Khumalos 2, directed by Jayan Moodley, brings back the family chaos with a road trip and an engagement hanging by a thread.
A Decade in Africa
To mark the milestone, Netflix has launched a curated homepage row, A Decade In Africa: Worth Every Watch, collecting local series and films, fan favourites from across the continent and global titles featuring talent with African roots. It is available to members across Sub-Saharan Africa from September through December 2026 at netflix.com/Africa10.
Thank you to the Netflix South Africa team for the invitation. We are looking forward to the second decade.