10+ South African book adaptations on Showmax

From page turners to scene stealers, we love a book-to-film adaptation. Even when you know the plot, seeing someone bring beloved characters to life is a thrilling experience. And when it comes to our own stories, we’re addicted! Showmax audiences have now watched over 50 million hours of The Wife, making it the platform’s most popular series ever – take that, Game of Thrones!

Now come check out our best local beach reads and stories to smuggle under the covers.

1. Reënboogrant

Inspired by Louise van Niekerk’s best-selling 90s novels, Reënboogrant is a Tshwane-set teen telenovela centred on the Brink family. 

Minke Marais (Mooiweer en Warm, Nuwejaar and Summertide) and Mila de Villiers (Wyfie) co-star as Grade 10 sisters Shani and Sunette Brink, with Paul Strydom (Spooksoeker) as their older brother Dolf, the head boy. Also look out for Diepe Waters’ duo Righard van Jaarsveld and Johnny Potsanyane among the teen cast, as well as ex-Miss Teen Namibia finalist Marelee Ferreira and Xander Venter in their Showmax debuts. 

SAFTA and Silwerskerm winner Desiré Gardner (Magda Louw) is the head writer, with André Velts heading up the directing team and Sonvelt Media producing. Sonvelt Media won the 2024 SAFTA for Best Made For TV Movie for ‘n Tyd van Waterpere.

Stream Reënboogrant now. New episodes Wednesdays.

2. Spooksoeker

Supernatural young adult drama series based on François Bloemhof’s Spooksoeker series of novels. On his 15th birthday, Warno Alberts (Rico Immelman) suddenly becomes aware of ghosts in his dorpie. And he starts his mission to guide them to the other side (or get busy ghostbusting), with the help of his best friend Allies (Joshwin Dyson) and the girl next door, Melissa (Zarelda de Bruin). 

The star-studded cast (living and dead) includes Roeline Daneel, Laudo Liebenberg, June van Merch, Morné Visser, Daneel van der Walt, David Isaacs, Deon Coetzee, Ira Blanckenberg, Ivan Zimmerman, Izel Bezuidenhout, Jane de Wet, Terence Bridgett, Marguerite van Eeden, and Waldemar Schultz.

Stream Spooksoeker now. New episodes Thursdays.

3. Red Ink

Angela Makholwa-Moabelo executive produced and co-wrote this Showmax Original series as an adaptation of her bestselling debut novel of the same name, in collaboration with Bomb Productions (Shaka iLembe). The story was inspired by her time as a crime reporter, during which she tried to interview jailed serial killer Moses Sithole. Eight years later, while she was working at the PR company she founded, he reached back out to her!

PR powerhouse Lucy Khambule’s (Nqobile “Nunu” Khumalo) life is in crisis as she juggles motherhood, a cheating husband and a boss who’s backing out of their partnership. Then South Africa’s most notorious serial killer, Napoleon “The Butcher” Dingiswayo (Bonko Khoza), phones her to demand that she write his story.

Binge Red Ink now.

4. The Wife Season 1-3

Based on the bestselling Hlomu series of novels by Dudu Busani-Dube, this Showmax Original telenovela follows the lives of the eight Zulu brothers, a formidable crime family, through the eyes of the women they marry.

Season 1 is inspired by the novel Hlomu the Wife, with Mbalenhle Mavimbela as Hlomu, a journalist who falls in love with a taxi driver, Mqhele Zulu (Bonko Khoza). Season 2 tackles Zandile the Resolute, with Khanyi Mbau as Zandile, the fierce matriarch of the Zulu family and wife of the eldest Zulu brother, Nkosana (Mondli Makhoba), while the third season adapts Naledi – His Love, with Gaisang K Noge as Naledi and Kwenzo Ngcobo as Qhawe.
Love it all? Watch the behind-the-scenes documentary series, The Wife: Behind The Veil.

Binge The Wife Season 1-3 now.

5. Dinge Van ’n Kind

This Nagvlug Films (Donkerbos, Nêrens, Noord-Kaap) drama series is based on Marita van der Vyver’s classic novel of the same name, which centres on the beginnings of womanhood and the loss of innocence – sexual, political and moral. 

Mart Vermaak grows to adulthood in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa in the 1970s (played by Melissa Myburg), 1990s (played by Cintaine Schutte), and the present (played by Susanne Beyers). Look out for rising star Mienke Ehlers as the young Mart’s rebellious best friend, Dalena.

Binge Dinge Van ’n Kind now.

6. Trackers

Deon Meyer’s “Lemmer” crime thriller novel of the same name comes to life. 

Milla Strachan (Rolanda Marais) goes from housewife to hunter when she unwittingly accepts a job at a government agency under head of the Presidential Bureau of Intelligence Janina Mentz (Sandi Schultz) and her Chief of Operations, Quinn Makebe (Thapelo Mokoena). The job brings her into the orbit of former Special Forces operative Lemmer (James Gracie), who’s been hired to play bodyguard to a shipment of rhino from Zimbabwe, wildlife tracker Cornel ‘Flea’ van Jaarsveld (Trix Vivier), organised crime boss Inkunzi (Sisanda Henna), shady archeologist and smuggler Lukas Becker (Ed Stoppard), and ruthless terrorist Suleiman Daoud (Emmanuel Castis).

Binge Trackers now.

7. Devil’s Peak

Captain America: Brave New World writer Matthew Orton and Skemerdans creator Amy Jephta adapted Deon Meyer’s bestselling “Benny Griessel” novel of the same name for this five-part series.

Benny Griessel (Hilton Pelser) and his colleague Mbali Kaleni (Masasa Mbangeni) investigate when a vigilante killer’s crimes capture the city’s imagination. Meanwhile grieving father Thobela Mpayipheli (Sisanda Henna) seeks justice after the murder of his son, and single mom Christine (Tarryn Wyngaard) will go to any lengths to claw out a better life for herself and her daughter.

PS: Deon Meyer fans should also look out forJagveld, which is based on one of his screenplays.  

Binge Devil’s Peak now.

8. Recipes for Love and Murder

SAFTA winners Christiaan Olwagen and Karen Jeynes adapted and directed this crime drama series based on the first of Sally Andrew’s bestselling Tannie Maria novels, set in the small fictional Karoo town called Eden (and shot on location in Prince Albert)

When a woman who wrote to her seeking advice is found dead, reluctant recipe advice columnist Tannie Maria Purvis (Maria Doyle Kennedy) and her colleague, rookie journalist Jessie (Kylie Fisher), become determined to solve this small-town murder and catch the killer – even roping in their Karoo Gazette editor, Hattie Wilson (Jennifer Steyn), and (very much against his will), big city detective Khaya Meyer (Tony Kgoroge).

Binge Recipes for Love and Murder now.

9. Noem My Skollie

Adapted from scriptwriter John Fredericks’ autobiography, Skollie: One Man’s Struggle to Survive by Telling Stories, this film was South Africa’s entry to the 2016 Oscars.

Growing up on the Cape Flats during the 1960s, AB (Austin Rose, with Dann Jaques Mouton playing the older AB behind prison bars) and his young friends are exposed to, and then pulled into, the violent world of gangs by the likes of the intimidating Gums (David Manuel). AB finds a way out by becoming a teller of fascinating stories. 

With Gantane Kusch, Christian Bennett, Gershwin Mias, Abduraghmaan Adams, Oscar Petersen, Tarryn Wyngaard, Peter Butler, Irshaad Ally, Charlton George, Lee-Ann van Rooy, Jill Levenberg and Sandi Schultz, and Afrikaans rapper Hemelbesem.

Stream Noem My Skollie now.

10. Toorbos

Knysna’s forest has been a constant source of inspiration for renowned Toorbos author Dalene Matthee. The film adaptation of her novel blends the poverty and struggle drama of The Grapes of Wrath, with the hope and whimsy of My Fair Lady. 

Young Karoliena Kapp (Elani Dekker) leaves her forest home behind for a more sophisticated town life on the arm of a dapper suitor (Stiaan Smith), but finds her desire for freedom and self-expression clashing with the engrained snobbery of high society etiquette among the Bosmens community in the 1930s.

Stream Toorbos now..

11. Griekwastad

Griekwastad is a dark and unsettling adaptation of true-crime novel The Griekwastad Murders: The Crime that Shook South Africa by Jacques Steenkamp. The story is a chronicle of the tragic events following what appeared to be a home invasion and farm murder in 2012. 

Colonel Dick de Waal (Arnold Vosloo) is called to investigate a triple murder with a lone survivor. What really happened to the Steenkamp family at Naauwhoek? The daunting investigation, bizarre aftermath and media sensation is now a gripping and suspenseful cat-and-mouse thriller with Alex van Dyk and Jane de Wet.

Stream Griekwastad now.

Also watch

Vaselinetjie: Movie based onAnoeschka von Meck’s coming of age story of the same name. A welfare department sends a young girl to a Johannesburg orphanage when they discover she is not biologically related to her loving grandparents.  

Nul is Nie Niks Nie: Movie based on Jaco Jacobs’ novel Oor 'n motorfiets, 'n Zombiefliek en Lang Getalle Wat Deur Elf Gedeel Kan Word (published internationally as A Good Night for Shooting Zombies). Terminally ill teenager Drikus unites his community as they work on making his dream of making a zombie film a reality.

Tess: Author Tracey Farren adapted her novel Whiplash for the screen in this movie. Tess, a jaded sex worker, battles an unplanned pregnancy and difficult past.

Kromkieriefontein: Kids’ animated movie based on Kop in die Wolke in Kromkieriefontein, the third book in author Milan Murray’s series of idiom books. Four nosy eight-year-olds try to find out why their teacher is the only person who stands up straight in the village of Kromkieriefontein.