Netflix's Kings of Jo'Burg explores family and loyalty.

The Masire brothers. photo credit: news24.com

 

BY CHISOM PETER JOB.

Kings of Jo’Burg is a South African TV show created by Shona Ferguson of the Ferguson Films. 

It is a crime fantasy TV show about the Masire brothers－Simon Masire, played by Shona Ferguson, and Mogomotsi Masire, played by Zolisa Xaluva－who rules Johannesburg’s criminal underworld. 

After Mogomotsi is released from prison, he meets Phumzi, played by Cindy Mahlangu, who helps him out by giving him a ride, and also offering him some money. In the scene, the show does well in showing the fear Phumzi has on giving a ride to a stranger who she barely knows, and the dialogue that ensued between them, before she said yes to the ride. 

We also get to find out the bad relationship between Mogomotsi and his son, Tlotlo Masire, played by Tk Sebothoma. 

The show mainly focuses on family, loyalty, and crime. While there is a bit of dark fantasy in it, we don’t get to see much of it, which is an aspect the show fails at. The first time we get a hint of the supernatural in the show is during a diamond heist by Simon in the first episode, after that, there is little attempt at showing more of the supernatural and how it relates to the show.

The show does a lot in showing how ideal loyalty is as the Masire brothers always come to each other's aid, and how they protect everyone close to them, even when they do things that don't require protection. One thing the show fails at though, is the way background characters are added from nowhere, and how there is no story behind them. In the final episodes, we see an unidentified man who leaves the United States for South Africa, only to kidnap Simon’s baby mama and his son. There is no name to this character, and we don’t get to know the reason why he goes after Simon’s family. 

The show really does a lot, and also does nothing at the same time. While it tries to give us an understanding of the brotherhood, it doesn’t dive deeper into it by showing us what goes down and what doesn’t. 

When it comes to the acting, there are scenes where you shake your head and roll your eyes because the actor isn’t doing anything about their role, which then makes you wonder if it is the director’s fault or if the actor is to blame. While there are scenes where you just have to nod and smile because the actor is doing justice to their role. Cindy Mahlangu is one of such actors. She delivered her role as Phumzi so flawlessly, given that she was also an undercover cop who had to act too in order not to give her cover away. 

Buhle Samuels also does justice to her role as Angela Masire, the jealous ex-wife to Mogomotsi and ever loving wife to Simon. She delivered flawlessly. 

If there is one thing about the script, it is that some of the characters made decisions that don't really make sense, and wouldn’t work out in real life. The first of such decisions would be Simon getting married to his brother’s wife Angela simply because his brother was in prison. Looking at it from a broader perspective, it makes Tlotlo Simon’s step son and it also gives off a weird vibe. 

Another decision would be when Neo-Mogomotsi’s daughter, played by Rosego Masilo, saw him for what seemed to be the first time and said, “I hear you’re my father,” and followed him. This scene was a bit confusing because how is it possible to follow someone you are seeing for the first time into a car, with another man? In real life, we know the kid won’t just get into the car without running to her grandmother who she was staying with. Stranger danger. 

In the final episodes, we see Phumzi with four pregnancy kits, which showed that she was pregnant. Something that remains confusing is, since she was undercover, and she knew it was just a job, why then did she ever have unprotected sex? Did she fall in love? Did she do it in order to have his trust? And the scene where Tlotlo and Mogmotiso went to the club and left immediately, after Mo saw a bullet and a police tag, what was that? We didn’t get to see anything about that scene because the club went on to open fully, so how did those get there? 

I think for the next season, the show creators need to go through their scripts well and make sure it is applicable in real life because even though it is fiction, it shouldn’t just be anything. We need to know the background to different scenes. We need to know why some scenes are there. Is it just to increase the minutes, or is there a story there?

A takeaway from the series though, would be the portrayal of family, and loyalty. The creator went in deep to talk about families and how they are important. We got to understand that family is everything, and there are people who’d do anything for their families. We also got to see that loyalty pays. The character Sting, who was sent to kill Mogomotsi was spared because of his loyalty towards the brothers. 

The Ferguson’s created a beautiful TV show with lovely cinematography, locations, and some amazing scenes. But we hope in the next season, they do better and make sure we do not roll our eyes.