By Bahle Gama
The announcement that 1Magic’s The River is coming to an end after six seasons is driving fans across Africa berserk, however, they have not failed to give Executive Producer at Tshedza Pictures Phathutshedzo ‘Phathu’ Makwarela his flowers whilst still alive.
Having birthed the telenovela seven years ago, fans on social media platforms expressed their frustration, sadness, compliments, and wishes over the cancellation of the shows.
The River remains one of the most awarded telenovelas in South Africa following how its scooped 26 SAFTAs out of 31 nominations and one 47th international Emmy award nomination to its name.
On February 3 an announcement was made that the telenovela would be coming to an end and despite the heart-shattering and gut-wrenching news, fans did not hold back from sharing snippets of their favourite scenes, their favourite actors/actresses, the storyline (good/evil) and all that credit has been directed to Marakwela and his team at Tshedza Pictures.
As the saying goes, ‘a good dancer always knows when to leave the stage’, and now it’s that time for The River season 6.” – @PhathuMakwarela. ❤️
— 1Magic (@1MagicTV) February 3, 2023
After six amazing seasons and a cast to match, #TheRiver1Magic comes to an end soon, time for one last dance in Refilwe. ICONIC. 💐
Madlabanthu played by Sindi Dlathu is one of the main characters that has had fans going wild throughout the show, as a businesswoman, a wife, a mother, an aunt, and the one enemy you did not want to have.
Her niece Zolani played by Lawrence Maleka has been deemed as the best ‘sidekick’ making the combo a force to be reckoned with.
@Kaubi_Mohla tweeted “The strongest team to come out of Zolani & Lindiwe. Tjeeer this bond was on another level.”
When making the announcement, 1Magic tweeted “as the saying goes, a good dancer always knows when to leave the stage, and now it’s that time for The River season 6.”
Taking to Twitter fans also stated that The River has been the best telenovela on the SA screens and hoped that more producers had learned.
@Rakgadikoolkat tweeted “for the cast to the storyline…perfection”, whilst @PortiaMabuda said, “I can’t be the only one who is sad that the show is coming to an end”.
“Phathu and Tshedza crew created a masterpiece here, well done to them and to more amazing production,” tweeted @OriginalGumz.
The Executive Producer stated that when they created The River seven years ago, they knew that they wanted to tell a story that will have a definite ending, and on its sixth season they feel “the time is right to bring the story of these beloved characters to an end on our own terms and where viewers still treasure the show.”
The truth we all avoiding. #Theriver was not supposed to be cancelled seriously. There is so much that can still be done. Letting Zweli go was the worst idea. They just needed to give him what he wanted
— Jay Jay the fixer (@jerajessie2603) February 3, 2023
