South Africa gets spotlight in upcoming Netflix Original for festive season

Netflix has announced a new African Original series coming to the streaming platform: a South African festive season miniseries starring local talent.

The series, called How to Ruin Christmas: The Wedding, will feature three episodes and features an entirely South African cast.

The story follows Tumi, viewed as a rebel by her family, as she joins them for Christmas and her sister’s wedding.

Tumi manages to ruin the wedding before it even takes place and spends the next few days trying to fix it.

“The three-part holiday special explores the all too relatable dysfunctional family whilst offering up the familiarity of class tensions within the black community,” Netflix South Africa said in their announcement.

How to Ruin Christmas Netflix series: The South African cast

Busisiwe Lurayi plays Tumi Sello, while Thando Thabethe plays the role of her sister, Beauty.

The ensemble cast also includes Clementine Mosimane, Yonda Thomas, Sandile Mahlangu, Motlatsi Mafatshe, Charmaine Mtinta, Seputla Sebogodi, and Desmond Dube.

You can see a list of cast members and their roles below:

• Busisiwe Lurayi – Tumi Sello
• Thando Thabethe – Beauty Sello
• Clementine Mosimane – Dineo Sello
• Yonda Thomas – Khaya Manqele
• Sandile Mahlangu – Sbu Twala
• Motlatsi Mafatshe – Themba Twala
• Saint Seseli – Vusi Twala
• Charmaine Mtinta – Valencia Twala
• Rami Chuene – Aunt Grace
• Trevor Gumbi – Siya Twala
• Nandi Nyembe – Gogo Twala
• Desmond Dube – Uncle Shadrack
• Keketso Semoko – Aunt Moipone
• Swankie Mafoko – Lydia Twala
• Lethabo Bereng – Cousin Bokang
• Dippy Padi – Thando
• Nambitha Ben-Mazwi – Refiloe
• Kate Normington – Candice Harden
• Seputla Sebogodi – Edmund Mokoena

Increased focus on African content

The new African Original is part of the streaming service’s increased focus on content that comes from Africans.

Earlier this year the company launched its ‘Made in Africa, watched by the world‘ campaign, which highlights talent from the continent.

Dorothy Ghettuba, who leads African Original Series at Netflix, says that the company is excited to bring a South African spin to a festive series.

“We are excited to bring to our viewers this truly South African Christmas Special,” she says. “We hope to bring our local and global viewers laughter [and] joy and spur them into the spirit of Dezemba!”

The exact launch date for the series has yet to be announced. However, viewers can expect it to arrive around December.

If you are a current Netflix subscriber, you can add the series to your reminder list when it becomes available for streaming. Just visit the page for How To Ruin Christmas on Netflix.

Feature image: Netflix