Eye-opening homegrown documentaries to stream

Find out more about where South Africa has been and get some insight into where it could be going with this eclectic list of some of the best South African documentaries on Showmax.

Boetie Boer: Inside The Mind Of A Monster | Showmax Original | From 18 October 2023

Showmax takes you inside the mind of a monster in the most disturbing Showmax Original true-crime series to date. We go back in time to 1990 as Stewart “Boetie Boer” Wilken starts his killing spree in Gqeberha. Watch now »

Rosemary’s Hitlist | Showmax Original

Cop Rosemary Ndlovu may have sworn to protect, but what she did instead shocked South Africa. This is the story of her crime spree, a true-crime documentary series about cop-turned-serial-killer Nomia Rosemary Ndlovu.

In 2021, Ndlovu was sentenced to six concurrent life terms for a string of murders. What drove this policewoman, sworn to protect, to kill? Watch now »

Imibuzo

Imibuzo is a Showmax Original which revisit the murders of Flabba from Skwatta Kamp; Tshegofatso Pule, Phumeza Pepeta, Karabo Mokoena and Tshepang Pitse; LGBTQIA+ musician and activist Lindokuhle Cele; and the children of Sibusiso Mpungose, as well as the Enyobeni Tavern massacre. Other episodes focus on televangelist Tim Omotoso, who is currently in jail awaiting trial on 97 charges of rape, racketeering and human trafficking, and Sibongile Mali, who went on a spending spree after R14m was erroneously deposited into her account. Watch now »

Sex and Pleasure | Showmax Original

What do South Africans get up to behind closed doors (and, well, everywhere else too)? The adults-only documentary series Sex and Pleasure, hosted by writer Kim Windvogel and journalist Romantha Botha, explores this hot topic. Watch now »

Stella Murders | Showmax Original

A small farming town in the North West wakes up to the news of the death of two teenage girls in a school hostel. Is it a double suicide or a murder? From the director and producers of Devilsdorp. Watch now»

Last Blue Ride: The Hannah Cornelius Story | First on Showmax

Through never-before-seen footage and intimate interviews, this documentary looks at the brutal attack on two Stellenbosch students, Hannah Cornelius and Cheslin Marsh, at the hands of members of the Numbers gang in 2017. Watch now »

Girl, Taken

The gripping true story of two Cape Town parents whose daughter was stolen from the hospital at birth. She’s miraculously found 17 years later, but their reunion is not the fairytale ending they hoped for. Watch now »

Sex in Afrikaans | Showmax Original

Four Afrikaans couples and two singles have shameless discussions about their sex lives for the first time – and, in the process, discover that there is so much more fun to be had! Presented by psychologist Bradley R Daniels. Watch now »

Devilsdorp | Showmax Original

Hell comes closer to home in Showmax’s first Original true-crime docu-series. A series of brutal murders in the town of Krugersdorp leads cops to a bizarre cult with links to Satanism. If you think you know this story, you don’t. Watch now »

Huisgenoot: Ware Lewensdramas S1-8

From the Stander Gang to Oscar Pistorius, Taliep Pietersen to Baby Jordan, the SAFTA-nominated South African documentary series Huisgenoot: Ware Lewensdramas revisits the true-life stories that made the headlines, going behind the story with the people involved, talking to experts, and hearing from the journalists who originally broke the stories in one of SA’s oldest and best-loved publications. Watch now »

Zero to Zero

A moving South African film about Covid-19. Filmed over a year, this unequalled footage from ICU and beyond tells a story of despair, hope and the strength of the human spirit. Watch now »

How to Steal a Country

A compelling look into how investigative journalists uncovered the corruption scandal surrounding Jacob Zuma and how his response was to brush the accusations off as fake news. Watch now »

Blood Lions

The lion is revered as the “King of the Jungle”, which is why wealthy international hunters are so eager to add the iconic African predator’s head to their trophy room. Renowned environmental journalist Ian Michler has made it his mission to expose and create awareness around lion breeding and the canned hunting industry, now a multi-million-dollar industry in South Africa.

Blood Lions uncovers some of the culprits at the heart of this despicable, lucrative and largely unregulated trade. Coming from the perspective of an investigative journalist and an undercover trophy hunter, we get both sides of the story first hand.

Blood Lions unpacks the insidious nature of the so-called sport, seeking to expose conservation, tourism and professional hunting bodies who have become complicit in the trade. Watch now »

Stroop: Journey into the Rhino Horn War 

Stroop: Journey into the Rhino Horn War tells the shocking and touching story of the ongoing poaching of rhino and the trade in its coveted horn. In an exclusive first, filmmakers Bonne de Bod and Susan Scott filmed special ranger units inside the Kruger National Park and at the home of the white rhino, the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park. The pair also travelled undercover to the dangerous back rooms of wildlife traffickers and dealers in China and Vietnam and the result is a powerful, hard-hitting and incredibly moving documentary that will challenge and shock viewers. Watch now »