New true-crime docuseries Imibuzo coming to Showmax

Showmax has just dropped the teaser for Imibuzo, a true-crime documentary anthology that will answer your lingering questions about some of South Africa’s biggest news stories from the last decade.

Premiering on Monday, 8 May 2023, the first episode will revisit the 2015 murder of Nkululeko Habedi, better known as Flabba from Skwatta Kamp, the multi-award-winning hip hop group. His girlfriend, Sindisiwe Manqele, was released on parole last year, after serving eight years for stabbing him to death in his Alexandra home. Family, friends, Skatta Kamp members, journalists, investigators and legal experts will give us their first-hand accounts of what really happened.

Watch the teaser trailer for Imibuzo

Imibuzo is being produced by POP24, part of Media24, who made the reality series This Body Works For Me, which topped the Showmax Top 20 and Twitter trends charts. POP24 also co-produced the SAFTA-nominated true crime anthology Huisgenoot: Ware Lewensdramas.

New episodes will drop every Monday until 10 July 2023. Subsequent episodes will reinvestigate:

• the murder of Tshegofatso Pulse, who went missing in 2020 after visiting her boyfriend, Ntuthuko Shoba, and was found dead four days later, eight months pregnant
• the Enyobeni Tavern massacre, where 21 people died, many of them underage
• the murder of LGBTQIA+ musician and activist Lindokuhle Cele, stabbed 21 times in a shop in Umlazi by someone he knew
• Sibusiso Mpungose, who was found guilty of murdering his three biological children as well as his stepdaughter – all under 16 years old
• televangelist Tim Omotoso, who is currently in jail awaiting trial on 97 charges of rape, racketeering and human trafficking
• the murder of Phumeza Pepeta, while she was sitting in a car comforting her mother during her father’s funeral. She was allegedly shot by her ex-husband, who was disguised in women’s clothing
• the murder of Tshepang Pitse, whose body parts were found in the freezer of her husband, Flavio Hlabangwane
• Sibongile Mali, who went on a spending spree after R14m was erroneously deposited into her account
• the 2017 murder of 22-year-old Karabo Mokoena, whose burnt body was found in a field, leading to the conviction of her boyfriend, Sandile Mantsoe

“Between MultiChoice and Media24, we have an incredible archive to draw on,” says Zinzi Velelo, POP24’s head of content. “The news cycle is shorter than ever these days, but our new interviews on Imibuzo show that these stories have had a lasting impact on everyone involved. Life in South Africa is full of twists and turns you don’t see coming. In some cases, time can bring perspective but it’s clear that the wounds are still raw. These stories deserve to never be forgotten.”

In the Quarter 3 crime statistics released on 17 February 2023, police minister general Bheki Cele announced a 10.1% increase in murders and a 24.3% increase in attempted murder. He called the urge to look away from these crimes “a betrayal of humanity” and urged all South Africans, “When you see something, say something and do something.”