Cape Town – It was a good year for local television. Mzansi Magic led the pack with its original telenovelas, SABC 3 upped their game with a barrage of talk and variety shows and across the board it was the battle of the wedding shows.
When it comes to soapies SABC2’s Uzalo dethroned Generations.
While there was drama on the small screen there was also tension behind the scenes.
Here are 5 local TV scandals of the year:
1. The Voice SA voting scandal
The second season of M-Net’s reality show was rocked with a voting scandal a week before the grand finale.
Week 6’s votes were nullified after the channel discovered a paid-for marketing on the social media accounts of some talent.
Two singers who were eliminated in previous weeks both returned for the finale which saw 7 contestants sing it out in the final episode. (Read more here)
2. Oubaas leaves 7de Laan
After playing the iconic character for 17 years Pierre van Pletzen was booted from the popular SABC 2 soapie. In an interview with JacarandaFM van Pletzen opened up about the circumstances surrounding his contract not being renewed.
The drama didn’t stop there though - Van Pletzen and viewers were up in arms at how the character exited the show.
In his final episode the character left Hilda to go and tend to his mother on the farm but the writers switched things up and it was later revealed that Oubaas was having an affair for years. (Read more here)
3. Generations: The Legacy goes X-rated
To add some spice to the soapie Generations: The Legacy added a Fifty Shades of Grey esq storyline. The BCCSA received 160 complaints from viewers over the racy scenes.
The BCCSA found that Generations - The Legacy didn't show explicit sex scenes but "do test the line between suggestive sex and explicit sex".
It ordered that Generations -The Legacy to place an audience advisory whenever such ultra-suggestive sex scenes. (Read more here)
4. Idols SA runner-up controversy
The 13th season of the popular Mzansi Magic singing competition had some behind-the-scenes drama. After the season finale the winner and runner-up attend a media press conference to talk about their future plans.
Runner-up Mthokozisi Ndaba however pulled a disappearing act and did not show up.
He became the first runner-up ever in the 13 seasons of the show not to appear alongside the winner before the media. (Read more here)
The controversy surrounding Ndaba didn't end there though he was accused of assaulting a woman. The charges were later provisionally dropped. (Read more here)
5. Boer Soek 'n Vrou bachelor threatens legal action
Controversy clouded the 10th season of the Afrikaans dating show, Boer Soek ‘n Vrou. This comes after one of the bachelors, Boer Johan, sent a contestant packing for allegedly drinking too much in an episode that aired 23 November.
Shortly after the episode aired furious fans lashed out at the 60-year-old farmer for his treatment of Christa – who later said she was completely sober and just having fun.
Netwerk24 reported that the controversy got so out of hand that Boer Johan threatened to take the popular show to court for allegedly misrepresenting him on air. The Afrikaans TV channel, kykNET denied the allegations saying the show’s integrity is of utmost importance.
(Photos: M-Net, Mzansi Magic, Facebook, Danie Odendaal Productions)