‘Donkerbos’ is the darkest thing I’ve ever done, says lead actress about new Afrikaans show

The first episode of Donkerbos, a new Afrikaans-English-Venda murder mystery set in Limpopo, started streaming on Showmax this week, and we are already eagerly awaiting the release of episode two after the cliff-hanger the first episode left us with.

In a country where violent crimes against children are very much a harsh reality, the plot of Donkerbos cuts very close to the bone.

Writer and Director of the show, Nico Scheepers, describes Donkerbos as “a story about how almost everyone fails the most vulnerable members of society – children – but there is hope in the men and women who keep fighting, despite the odds”. 

He says the success of South African crime series can most likely be attributed to the country’s high crime rate.

“The statistics in South Africa are worse than anything I could write,” he said in a statement, shortly after the first episode of Donkerbos was released.

Reyka, another brilliant South African production about a cop profiler who hunts for a serial killer in the sugarcane fields of KwaZulu-Natal recently got international recognition after lead actress Kim Engelbrecht was nominated for an International Emmy Award. The show has also since been sold to 147 territories, including BritBox North America, CANAL+, Channel4 in the UK, HBO LatAm and Sky Italia. 

ALSO SEE: Kim Engelbrecht becomes fifth African actress to be nominated for an International Emmy

What is Donkerbos about?

When the bodies of six children are found in the backwater forests of Donkerbos, an ostracised detective must wrestle with her dark past, her family and a distrustful community to catch the killer before another child is taken.

Watch the trailer below:

The Donkerbos cast

The star-studded cast of Donkerbos includes Silwerskermfees winners Jacques Bessenger (Fynskrif, Warrior), Stian Bam (The Story of Racheltjie de Beer), Aphiwe Sithole (Poppie Nongena), Carel Nel (Gaia) and Rolanda Marais (Trackers), multi-award winners Wilhelm van der Walt (Fynskrif) and Leandie Du Randt (Meisies Wat Fluit), Fleur du Cap winner Nicole Holm (Fynskrif), SAFTA nominee Nicola Hanekom (Faan se Trein) and 2022 Young Artist Academy Award winner Caleb Payne (Good Life), as well as Silwerskermfees Best Actor nominee Edwin van der Walt (Wonderlus) and newcomers Steph van der Merwe and Marko Vorster. 

Multi-award winner Erica Wessels (Dwaalster and i am ALL GIRLS) who portrays the role of detective Stephanie ‘Fanie’ van Wyk said Donkerbos is both the best thing she has ever read in Afrikaans and the darkest thing that she has ever done.

Fleur du Cap winner Sanda Shandu (Skemerdans, The Kissing Booth) who plays detective Tsedza Tshivenga, Fanie’s new partner said ‘the story will pull you left, right, centre, up, down, to all the corners! You won’t know what’s coming. You just haven’t seen anything like this.’

Donkerbos is now streaming on Showmax, with new episodes every Tuesday until 17 January 2023.