7de Laan
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''7de Laan'' is a South African
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
created by Danie Odendaal and produced by Danie Odendaal Productions. The series focuses on the lives of residents staying in and around the community of 7de Laan (7th Avenue), in the suburb of Hillside. The programme's dialogue is primarily in Afrikaans and is subtitled in English with some English and Zulu dialogue in between. The street and shopfronts which are featured on the opening visuals, are that of Seventh Street in Melville,
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
.


History

Odendaal originally conceived of the series when he was a resident of the Melville section of Johannesburg. At the time, Odendaal would watch the people of his community over breakfast and a cup of coffee at his favourite coffee shop. He would make up fictitious characters based on what he saw. The working title for the show was ''Die Koffiekan'' (The Coffee Pot). Later it was renamed ''Hoe Meer Dae...'' (The More Days), but the name was considered too similar to the American soap opera, ''
Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...
.'' Eventually, the title ''7de Laan'' was chosen because it reflects a place where people live and work and because it is a common street name in South Africa.


Broadcast history

The series made its debut on Tuesday, 4 April 2000, on South African public television network
SABC 2 SABC 2 is a South African family public television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). SABC 2 broadcasts programming in English, Sepedi, Afrikaans, Venda, and Tsonga. As of August 2018, the channel started broad ...
. Initially, ''7de Laan'' was broadcast on Tuesday only, then on Tuesday and Thursday, and eventually five days a week, Monday to Friday. After airing at 18:30 daily for much of its broadcast history, in July 2016, ''7de Laan'' was moved to a later timeslot, 19:00. In February 2017, ''7de Laans timeslot was changed again, this time moved to 18:00. The move was part of an ongoing programme shuffle of the SABC's three TV networks, the third such major change in a year's time. It was feared that the timeslot change would erode 7de Laan's audience, "working-class commuters," were not yet at home. In February 2017, SABC 2 announced that it would no longer air the omnibus edition of ''7de Laan'' on Sunday afternoons. However, in May 2017, SABC 2 announced that the Sunday omnibus would resume in July. As of February 2017, Episodes continued to be repeated daily on SABC 2 at 13:00 and on SABC 3 at 13:30. The show also remained available on the network's YouTube channel. In April 2010, ''7de Laan'' celebrated ten years on television. During this month, viewers got to see pictures of the show through its ten years during the end credits of each episode. On 9 May 2013, episode number 3,000 was broadcast. On 20 October 2016, the series broadcast its 3,900th episode. On 9 March 2017, ''7de Laan'' aired its 4000th episode. The 4000th episode featured characters Vanessa (Ingrid Paulus) and Xander (Theodore Jantjies) renewing their wedding vows. Several characters from the show's past were featured in the storyline, including Errol (Christo Davids), Dezi (
Elma Postma Elma Postma (born 6 September 1978) is a South African actress and presenter. She is best known for her roles in the series '' 7de Laan'', ''Farmer Wants a Wife'', and ''Isidingo''. Personal life She was born on 6 September 1978 in South Africa ...
), Wilmien (Nina Swart), and Karien (Christi Panagio). On 7 January 2021, ''7de Laan'' broadcast its 5000th episode. The episode, which saw the reopening of the show's coffeehouse, Oppiekoffie, after an explosion, was directed by cast member Francois Lensley, who plays the character of Marko Greyling. In January 2021, SABC 2 announced that beginning in April 2021, ''7de Laan'' and ''Muvhango'' would reduce their weekly episodes from five to three days per week. ''7de Laan'' is set to broadcast episodes on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays due to SABC 2 newest Afrikaans drama Die Sentrum on Thursdays & Fridays


Ratings

In 2009 ''7de Laan'' received 1.95 million viewers per episode. In 2015, ratings were considered "still big but flat." To improve the ratings, the show underwent changes in 2015, including a new theme song,
opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen ...
, and sets. At the time, almost half (45,3%) of the soap's viewership across all race groups was older than 50 years of age. In 2016, it was reported that the series was considered to be in "an ongoing ratings slide" but still drew 1.8 million viewers in September 2016 and was the 7th most popular programme on SABC 2. In 2018, the show's viewership surged and passed the 3.0 million viewership mark. Weekly omnibus episodes also draw an additional 1.0 million viewers on average each week. In January 2021, it was reported that ''7de Laans most-watched episode in December 2020 drew 1.44 million viewers, making it the 6th most-watched show on SABC 2 that month. The show was ranked 46th among all shows watched in South Africa in December 2020.


Storyline controversies

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) found the series and SABC 2 guilty of contravening the South African Broadcasting Code of Conduct for episodes aired on 27 and 28 April 2012, in which one of the actors drank heavily and contemplated suicide after his wife had left him. In May 2015, SABC2 was forced to "humbly apologise" by the BCCSA for depictions of graphic violence and inappropriate language aired during February 2015. The broadcast scenes depicted a hostage drama at the show's coffeehouse, Oppiekoffie. The BCCSA ordered ''7de Laan'' and SABC2 to broadcast an on-screen statement, accompanied by a voice-over telling viewers that ''7de Laan'' and SABC2 had erred in broadcasting the scenes. In May 2016, the BCCSA fined the SABC R15,000 for breaching the broadcasting code. The show had been charged with broadcasting a depiction of violence during family viewing time with insufficient warning to viewers. In an episode aired on 24 March 2016, the character Willem was shown strangling the character Gita in a violent scene. For the first time in its then 17-year run, on 2 March 2017, ''7de Laan'' aired a kiss between two male characters, Logan and Divan. The kiss generated a mostly positive reaction from viewers who commented on the TV show's Facebook page. In January 2019, an interracial kissing scene between Fikani Chauke and Alexa Welman (portrayed by Nicholas Nkuna and Carina Nel respectively) sparked outrage, condemnation and was subject to
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
remarks on the shows social media pages from fans who felt the scene was inappropriate. The show defended its decision to include the interracial kiss and its creators called for an end to
hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
. In October 2022, a scene in which Lesedi stole Fikani's sperm and had it artificially inseminated into her so she could become pregnant caused controversy among viewers. It was compared to a similar scene which happened in ''
Uzalo ''Uzalo'' is a South African soap opera produced by Stained Glass Productions, which is co-owned by Kobedi "Pepsi" Pokane and Gugu Zuma-Ncube. It began airing in 2015, quickly becoming a hit due to its compelling narrative, writing, direction an ...
''.


List of Scriptwriters


Writers

Some of the writers who have contributed to the success of the show are:
Jo-Ann Scholtz
(Head of Script)
Piet Matipa
(Head of Story)
Linda Scheepers
(Treatment Editor & Writer)
Alyzzander Fourie
(Script Editor)
Cobus Kock
(Writer)
Martina Theunissen
(Storyliner & Writer)
Lian van der Westhuizen
(Storyliner)
Maritha Broschk
(Writer)
Marlise Erwee
(Writer)
Johann Smith
(Writer)
Shemane Harris
(Writer) *Luke Matthews (Script Coordinator & Writer)


Contract dispute

In October 2016, it was reported that 7de Laan's production company, Danie Odendaal Productions, had not been able to negotiate successfully a new contract with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The company revealed that it had footed the bill for the series since July 2016 and could no longer afford to fund the production. As a result, cast and crew were told they would not be paid. It was also speculated that the 21 October 2016 episode could be the last one for several months. However, contract negotiations for both ''7de Laan'' and fellow SABC 2 soap ''
Muvhango ''Muvhango'' is a South African television soap opera, created by Duma Ndlovu. It is broadcast on the public TV channel SABC 2, and has an average of 4 million daily viewers. The first episode was aired on 7 April 1997. It was the first Tshive ...
'' were resolved satisfactorily.


Awards

''7de Laan'' has won the following awards: * Best Soapie, 2010,
South African Film and Television Awards South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
(SAFTA) (determined by public vote) * Best Soapie, 2011, South African Film and Televisions Awards (SAFTA) (determined by public vote) * Best TV Soap, 2014, South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTA) (determined by public vote) In 2011, 7de Laan won the SAFTA public vote for Best Soapie, despite an issue with voting. The initial SMS voting number given for 7de Laan in the TV promos was wrong and had to be changed so the votes cast before the correction were lost. Voting lines opened on 14 February and the correction was made on 16 February. In 2012, the show did not enter cast and crew into SAFTA categories, leading to its being removed from consideration from the Best Soap category.


Theme song

The series' original theme song was composed by Louis van Rensburg and performed by the
Soweto String Quartet The Soweto String Quartet is a string quartet from Soweto in South Africa composed of Reuben Khemese, Makhosini Mnguni, Sandile Khemese and Thami Khemese. Their music is a fusion of the "dance rhythms of Kwela, the syncopated guitars of Mbaqanga, th ...
. Having been the theme song since the series' inception in 2000, the tune was considered "iconic" but was replaced in June 2015 with a new composition by Joe Niemand and Nomansland. The theme-tune is so well-loved that many viewers complained when the instantly recognisable tune was replaced by the newer more modern theme.


Cookbook

In 2010, a cookbook featuring recipes inspired by the programme's characters was published. Characters featured include Hilda, Matrone, Charmaine, Maria, Vince, Lukas, and Paula. The book was released in two languages, in English as ''Cook with 7de Laan'' and in Afrikaans as
7de Laan Kook
''


Cast

The main cast includes the following characters (and the actors who play them): * Aggie Ngwenya-Meintjies ( Mimi Mahlasela) * Alexa Welman-Chauke (
Carina Nel Carina Nel (born 4 January 1988), is a South African actress. Started as a threatre actress, Nel later became a poula television actress particularly with the two soap operas ''Generations'' and ''7de Laan''. Personal life Nel was born on 4 Jan ...
) * Amorey Welman ( Kristen Raath) * Bonita Basson ( Hildegardt Silkiewicz) * Chris Welman (
David Rees David or Dai Rees may refer to: Entertainment * David Rees (author) (1936–1993), British children's author * Dave Rees (born 1969), American drummer for SNFU and Wheat Chiefs * David Rees (cartoonist) (born 1972), American cartoonist and televis ...
) * Denzil Jonker ( Jacques de Silva) * DeWet Basson/Ben Cronjé ( Dirk Stoltz) * Fikani Chauke ( Nicholas Nkuna) * Ivy Peterson ( Nazli George) * Lesedi Moloi ( KB Motsilanyane) * Mariaan Welman ( Deirdre Wolhuter) * Marvin Peterson (
Duncan Johnson Duncan Johnson (aka Gerald Clements) (17 August 1938 - 11 October 2018) was a radio DJ, working in his native Canada and in the United Kingdom. Born in Fergus, Ontario, during his early years he joined a radio station in Swift Current, Saskatchew ...
) * Tanya Visagie ( Liezl de Kock) * Vanessa Meintjies ( Ingrid Paulus) * Werner Visagie ( Zak Hendrikz) The supporting cast includes the following characters (and the actors who play them): * Khethiwe Mtathi (Sesethu Ntombela) * Romeo Peterson (Clint Aplon) * Shady Vermeulen ( Beata Bena Green) * Siya (Nathi Msibi) * Tjattas Botma (Rickus Strauss) * Uys Visagie (Daniel Coetzee) * Zee Guliwe (Ray Neo Buso)


See also

*
Isidingo ''Isidingo'' is a South African soap opera, with dialogue mostly in English and isiXhosa. The series premiered on SABC 3 in July 1998 and was broadcast evenings on SABC 3 from Monday to Friday at 19:00. Until 2001 it was titled ''Isidingo: The ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


TheQueen2019



TVSA's 7de Laan Mini-Site


SABC 2 original programming South African television soap operas 2000 South African television series debuts Afrikaans-language television shows Television shows set in South Africa 2000s South African television series 2010s South African television series 2020s South African television series