First-time SAFTA winners react to their awards

The 2022 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) were filled with Showmax titles – from Showmax Originals like Tali’s Baby Diary, The Wife and DAM to movies like Glasshouse and soapies like Suidooster.

Here are some of the best reactions from the first-time winners whose shows call Showmax “home”…

Jafta Mamabolo – Freedom

Jafta hit the trophy jackpot not once but twice at the awards, taking home the Best Achievement In Scriptwriting – Feature Film and Best Actor In A Feature Film for thriller movie Freedom.

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Bonko Khoza – The Wife

The Wife star has a lot of faith in his God-given talents… so it’s natural he’d thank his ancestors for his success after scoring Best Actor In A Telenovela. He tagged fellow star, Abdul Khoza, who plays Bonko’s character Mqhele’s Nqoba and also took home a SAFTA, for Best Supporting Actor, proving that the Zulu brothers are Mzansi’s favourites.

Both seasons of The Wife are now streaming, with the full behind-the-scenes special The Wife: Behind the Veil also available for fans to find out what went into the making of the telenovela.

Season 3 has started filming too, and will land in November 2022, only on Showmax.

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Natasha Loring – DAM

She’s on set filming Season 2 of Showmax Original thriller series DAM in the Eastern Cape, so what better way to celebrate her Best Supporting Actress In A Drama Series than on a “not-red-carpet” with a make-shift award ceremony of her own, with her co-stars?

She gave a special mention to fellow nominees, director Alex Yazbek, and lead star Lea Vivier, who plays her character Sienna’s sister, calling her the “backbone of the show”.

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Kate Normington – Tali’s Baby Diary

Kate now has the Best Supporting Actress In A TV Comedy award for her role as Tali’s mom Michelle in Tali’s Baby Diary and she’s keeping the laughs coming.

“I was at home with my husband. We were watching TV. I’d forgotten that the SAFTAs were on. We, the nominees, had all recorded our acceptance speeches two weeks previously, so the date had gone the way of all post-lockdown dates. One of the SAFTA production ladies I’d worked with on Legacy had sent an SMS saying, ‘Congratulations mama Kate’ and then Anton Taylor, who plays Darren in Tali and who was also nominated, sent a message, so I realised it must be true,” she told us.

“I think perhaps a resigned part of myself had consoled myself to the fact that I was not likely to win so I had buried the thought. I was hugely appreciative in the end because the nominees were all extraordinary artists. It’s a very auspicious nod to get so I am very grateful, at this stage in my career, to be working, especially with the talented artists who proliferate our small but astonishing artistic firmament.”

Keep an eye out for more on Tali’s Joburg Diary, another Showmax Original, now shooting!