20 July 2017
18 years of Egoli at your fingertips
It’s officially the longest-running series on Showmax with 18 seasons, 4 686 episodes and over 2 300 hours of viewing. When Egoli started, the world was a very different place. We can talk about pre- and post-Egoli as a historical measure of time in South Africa. Just look at all these things that didn’t exist in SA when Egoli first aired in 1992.
1. Smartphones
Do you remember the old-school Pentiums running the early stages of Windows? Seems prehistoric now that we basically have computers in our pockets that are more powerful than the ones used to send Buzz Aldrin to the moon.
2. The internet
Okay, so this is a tricky one. A couple of universities in South Africa got the internet in 1991, but it wasn’t really available for consumers until the mid-90s. And every time you connected it sounded like you were communicating with an alien race through the dial tone. Do you remember that sound?
3. McDonalds
Ronald and the gang only touched base in SA in 1995, and now have over 200 stores across the country. And while we revelled in the Happy Meals we didn’t realise Ronald was fast-tracking us to sign up for the gym. Thanks Ron.
4. The Cronut
Behold the birth of possibly the greatest patisserie of the 21st century. You take a croissant, you combine it with a donut, and you have the cronut. ‘Nuff said.
5. Democracy
Egoli is truly a historical measure of time in South Africa as it pre-dates democracy by two years. So you can definitely talk about contemporary South Africa in the context of pre- or post-Egoli, and perhaps it should be the academic standard going forward.
Take an immense trip down memory lane with the full Egoli collection available right now on Showmax.
Original African stories by local talent
Untying Kantai
Untying Kantai follows King Kantai, a man who has spent 30 years of his life working hard to provide for his family, only to be conned out of his life savings. Stream from 9 May, with new episodes weekly.
Big Girl Small World
Stream the new Kenyan romcom series Big Girl Small World from 8 May, with new episodes every week.
Empini S1
Stream the Showmax Original drama series Empini from 23 May 2024.
Original Sin: My Son The Killer
Original Sin: My Son The Killer follows the murder of Andrea Venter by Gerhard Jansen van Vuuren, who then went on the run from South Africa to Brazil.
Tracking Thabo Bester
From the makers of Devilsdorp and the director of Convict Conman comes the true-crime documentary South Africa has been waiting for. All the episodes are streaming on Showmax.
The Illuminated
The Showmax Original docuseries The Illuminated explores different religious movements in South Africa. All episodes now streaming.
Koek S1
The crime comedy Koek, starring Cindy Swanepoel. All the episodes are streaming on Showmax.
Ekhaya Backpackers S1
Stream the Showmax Original comedy series Ekhaya Backpackers. All the episodes are now streaming.
RHONairobi S2: Your favourite queens plus 3 new faces
Big Girl Small World, coming soon
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