Isibaya wins big at the Royalty Soapie Awards

The awards ceremony saw A-list celebrities and entertainers working the red carpet to celebrate South Africa’s robust home grown soapie industry, which provides work for hundreds of actors, technicians, writers and creatives and continues to raise the bar with high-quality production values and compelling storylines.

The big surprise of the night came when SABC2 soapie 7de Laan, which had been among this year’s Royalty Soapie Awards frontrunners with 14 nominations, failed to take home a single trophy.

With Isibaya dominating the technical categories, the remainder of the evening’s spoils – voted for by the soapie-loving public after the judging panel had selected the finalists – were shared among e.tv’s Scandal, kykNET’s Villa Rosa, and SABC3’s Isidingo.

Villa Rosa won the coveted public vote for Most Popular Soapie of the Year, as well as the awards for Outstanding Female Villain (Therese Benadé as Astrid Wentzel) and Outstanding Male Villain (André Lotter as Liam le Roux).

But these were bittersweet victories, because the long-running Afrikaans soap has been cancelled, with filming on the 11th and final season wrapping up in July. The awards ceremony was therefore an emotional occasion for the programme’s actors and creators, and a fitting send-off.

The Royalty Soapie Awards also honoured two industry veterans with Lifetime Achievement Awards: 7de Laan creator and production maven Danie Odendaal, and eThekwini living legend, trailblazing beauty queen and Muvhango actress Cynthia Shange.

This year’s Royalty Soapie Awards were a glamorous and star-studded affair, with stellar entertainment provided by eThekwini and national music “royalty”, interspersed with comic relief from Goliath & Goliath. Mainly, it was a celebration of South Africa’s vibrant soapie industry – long may the drama continue.

Full list of winners:

COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS:

Outstanding Soapie of the Year – Isibaya

Lifetime Achiever – Cythia Shange and Danie Odendaal

Outstanding Lead Actor – Motlatsi Mafatshe who plays Sechaba in Isidingo

Outstanding Lead Actress – Masasa Mbangeni from Scandal

Outstanding Female Villain – Therese Benade from Villa Rosa

Outstanding Male Villain – Andre Lotte from Villa Rosa

Most Popular Soapie of the year – Villa Rosa

Outstanding Newcomer – Izak Davel who plays Bradly in Isidingo

Outstanding Lighting – Isibaya

Outstanding Editing Team – Isibaya

Outstanding Directing Team – Adze Ugah for Isibaya

Outstanding Supporting Actor – Andile Sithole from Scandal

Outstanding supporting Actress – Mapaseka Koetle from Scandal

Outstanding Set Design – Isibaya

Outstanding Wardrobe – Isibaya