Crystal-Donna Roberts: 10 roles to remember

Beloved 7de Laan and Arendsvlei actress Crystal-Donna Roberts died on 6 March 2025, following a long battle with cancer – a struggle she had shared online since her diagnosis in 2019, in the hopes of encouraging others who were facing the same journey with her.

Tributes have poured in from friends, family and fans around South Africa. In their statement online, Roberta Durant and the team at Penguin Films called her, “An absolute professional, modest despite her unique and exceptional talent,” adding that “Her portrayal of Krotoa was monumental and the reason the film gained so much international recognition. Her portrayal of Janice in Arendsvlei was loved by all – feisty, sexy, yet deeply emotional. She will be missed by her colleagues and by all the South African viewers who loved her. Her legacy will live on through her body of work.”

Join us as we celebrate Crystal-Donna Roberts’ work in these 10 series and films on Showmax.

1. Arendsvlei

Crystal-Donna brought her childhood memories of growing up in Bonteheuwel, Kensington, and Factreton in Cape Town – and her experiences as a high school drama teacher – to her role as Arendsvlei High teacher-turned-salon owner Janice Cupido, which earned her two SAFTA nominations. 

We’ll never forget her battle of wits with the late Shaleen Surtie-Richards, who joined Arendsvlei in Season 2 to play Janice’s wedding crasher mother-in-law, Muriel. And bring your tissues as you re-watch Lionel (Jody Abrahams) and Janice’s surprise wedding in Season 4, episode 102.

2. Krotoa

Crystal-Donna won the 2018 SAFTA for Best Actress in a Feature Film, and went all the way to the Cannes Film Festival thanks to her performance as the title character, Krotoa (!Goro/gõas), a woman from the Goringhaicona tribe. Krotoa straddled two worlds after she was taken from her people around the age of 10 and raised in the household of Jan van Riebeeck (Armand Aucamp), where she was trained to serve as a translator for the VOC and a negotiator between the Dutch colonisers and her people.

3. Vallei van Sluiers

Spanning decades, this four-season drama series centres on three Boland fruit farming families in the Ceres valley: the De Bruyns, the Roberts’ and the Van Rhijns. Crystal-Donna gives an emotional, grounded performance as Charmaine Willemse, the long-suffering and skeptical wife of diamond-hunting geologist JP (Brendon Daniels), and seduced secretary to creepy, predatory veterinarian Hugo de Bruyn (Stian Bam). 

4. Fraksie

In a world of high finance, risk takers and dirty deals, nurse Chantel Koopman keeps her feet on the ground. But she’s also the biggest cheerleader (and the backbone) for her husband, computer science lecturer Tim Koopman (Marlo Minnaar). She is his calm in the storm as his revolutionary finance programme, QPI, attracts the attention of Schalk Smit (Edwin van der Walt), an investment manager at T&M Holdings who’s looking to get mega-rich, super fast. No wonder it was love at first sight for Tim. 

5. Asseblief & Dankie

Prepare to feel your heart grow three sizes as you watch Crystal-Donna play a homeless woman named Cassi who claims to be an angel in disguise when she saves the life of rich CEO Eben Schoonraad (Laudo Liebenberg) and goes to live with him in his penthouse in this charming Christmas confection.

6. Fynskrif

This three-season legal drama series centres on the lawyers at Van Wyk & Vennote, as a succession struggle for leadership of the firm begins. Crystal-Donna snaps and sparkles as the firm’s too-smart-for-this-job secretary Thandi Ndlovu, who goes above and beyond when she gives lawyer Corné Hanekom (Beer Adriaanse) desperately needed pointers on how to romance his coworker properly. Watch Season 1, episode 5, and fall in love.

7. Grootste Treffers

Self-absorbed rapper Quickstix (Crystal-Donna) is gearing up for the interview that could make her career catch fire when instead she finds a corpse in her lounge in this fun little snack of a movie.

8. Benjamin

It’s the year 2030, and it has been 4 380 days since rain last fell in South Africa. Chantelle September (Crystal-Donna) is on a mission from Child Welfare South Africa to collect census data across the rural Northern Cape when she comes across a small farming community under the sway of charismatic landowner Tobias du Toit (Albert Maritz) in this tense short film. 

9. Kompleks

Don’t let the beige cardigan fool you! Crystal-Donna brings a sly sense of humour to the character of Lucy the therapist, making her the perfect partner in crime for hopeless romantic and determined matchmaker Bradley (Keeno Lee Hector). This series, set in 2019, explores the possibilities of two same but different parallel universes, where fated lovers’ lives collide on an exclusive golf estate.

10. Projek Dina Season 1, episode 4

There’s a saying in the industry that goes: “There are no small parts, only small actors.” To truly understand it, watch guest star Crystal-Donna as desperate mother Bonita, who’s wracked with grief and fear when her young daughter is kidnapped in this harrowing episode.

Also watch

Die Spreeus: Crystal-Donna takes on the role of gangster’s daughter Jenny, who’s caught in a devil’s trap in episode 13 of this ghost-hunting supernatural drama series.

Die Byl: The Season 1 finale of this series about a crack investigative team features Crystal-Donna as Evelyn, a woman who wanders dangerously close to a serial killer’s trap. 

Griekwastad: Crystal-Donna plays Tracey in this true-crime drama film.

Die Boland Moorde: Look out for Crystal-Donna as viciously competitive literature student Elmarie in Season 1, episode 5 of this crime anthology murder mystery drama series