5 August 2021
Meet the cast of Suidooster
Currently in its seventh season, Suidooster is the soap-opera gift that keeps on giving, with all previous seasons ready to binge-watch on Showmax, where new episodes of Season 7 also arrive express from the kykNET broadcast. New episodes can also be streamed on DStv online.
With hundreds of episodes under its belt, Suidooster may not be the easiest storyline to keep track of – and it has a huge cast of characters.
Here’s a guide to who’s who in the cast. Look out for the Season 7 updates – and if you haven’t seen the latest episodes, make sure to skip those!
Sharleen “Mrs J” Jacobs (Theresa Sedras)
Sharleen Jacobs – or Mrs J as everyone calls her – is the matriarch of this big family. She’s also the one who looks out for the kids, and there’s nothing she won’t do for her children, blood or not. She’s the mother of Bridgette and Lee-Ann Jacobs, who own the big, successful property development company in Ruiterbosch. Her late husband, Henry, was a great spirit in the community. Years before, he built the Suidooster Centre around which all the action now happens.
Mrs J often has to broker the peace between her two children. She’s a kind, Christian woman who’s involved in the church and bakes the best milk tart in Ruiterbosch.
Bridgette Jacobs (Denise Newman)
Mrs J’s oldest, most difficult daughter. We originally met her as Ian October’s social butterfly wife who enjoyed nothing more than having lunch with her artsy friends. But when the scales fell from her eyes and she realized her husband was untrustworthy, she changed her life.
She now manages one of the biggest property development companies in the Cape, although no one is certain if she’s the best person for the job. She’s an emotional person who reacts to problems impulsively and finds courage at the bottom of a glass (or bottle) of wine. She hasn’t always got on with her sister, Lee-Ann, but since Lee-Ann’s return, they’ve learned to navigate their differences better.
Season 7 update: World-wandering Nicci (Gerwen Simon) returned to Ruiterbosch after some time away overseas but she hasn’t come back to a warm welcome. She’s the daughter of revered community businesswoman Bridgette Jacobs and they’ve been somewhat estranged. So returning to Ruiterbosch was important, explains Gerwen. “It means the world to Nicci that she and her mom have made peace. Being part of a family again is important to her. But not everyone is happy to see her. Nicci’s cousin Zoe is married to Tim, who along with her half-uncle Nazeem, have a nice little scam running. The last thing they need is Nicci exposing their criminal ways, so the two men team up to make sure that Nicci doesn’t get in their way. They have their knives out for her,” adds Gerwen.
Lee-Ann Jacobs (Portia Joel)
Mrs J’s long-lost daughter who after years in hiding eventually appeared in Ruiterbosch to make amends for her past. She was blamed for her father’s death because she was involved in the drug business and he had to come to her rescue, but now that is water under the bridge, she has to integrate herself into the community once again.
Until recently she was the councillor for Ruiterbosch but now she’s working with her sister at the former Suidooster Properties, now known as Jacobs Property Developers. She’s a moralist for whom there is only one path, and that’s the path of righteousness.
Zoe October (Lauren Joseph)
The princess of Ruiterbosch, a status she attained when she rocked up at her Uncle Ian and Aunt Bridgette’s and became their adopted daughter. She was a fitness instructor, but she quickly got a job at her uncle’s big property development company and initially turned up her nose at anyone who referred to her stormy past in Riversdale (a father who got very difficult when drunk and a mother who endured it for too long).
She falls in love with Wade, who was from the wrong side of the tracks, much to the disappointment of her snobby aunt, but she soon changes her mind and marries the more eligible architect Tim du Plooy. She is the kind of person who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and she knows what she wants out of life.
Tim du Plooy (Marco Spaumer)
A young but prominent architect who’s daring. When he arrived in Ruiterbosch looking for work, his father warned him against the dangerous Jacobs family. Of course, he didn’t listen to his father’s advice and joined the team of property developers.
Tim is complex person who takes life very seriously. His mother was schizophrenic and his father was extremely hard-working, and Tim, an only child, had to look after himself. This led him to the realization that life is mostly a struggle and to survive, you have to fight hard for what you want.
He’s walked a long road since he was a young, ambition architect who was trying to inspire the world with his creations. He comes to realise that “good guys always come last” and that the world only respects money and power, and this is all that he now pursues. He’s ambitious, dangerous and corruptible.
Chris du Plooy (Marcel van Heerden)
Chris, who’s a builder and a handyman, was formerly in the police. Even though he did plenty of dirty work in the past for Bridgette’s ex-husband, his conscience has recently been troubling him. He now tries to do the right thing, but it’s easier said than done. Chris’s ex-wife, Rita, suffers from schizophrenia, and is in an institution, so he’s been single for years.
He has a reasonably good relationship with his architect son, Tim, but like many father-son relationships, there’s sometimes conflict. He knows a bit about everything and everyone in Ruiterbosch.
Season 7 update: Werner Odendaal (Stian Bam, Basson in drama series Afgrond) is a security contractor who’s in town and on a quest to destroy ex-detective Chris at any cost. “He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” says Stian. “He hides in the shadows and people don’t know how dangerous he is. Even Chris is unaware of what’s really going on.” Pretty soon something huge is going to happen and Werner will be laughing as his cruel masterplan plays out in front of his eyes.
Nazeem Jacobs née Samsodien (Irvine van der Merwe)
Nazeem is the no-good brother of the innocent and honest pharmacist AB Samsodien – a real jackal. Years ago, he left his childhood home in the Cape and moved to the bright lights of Johannesburg, where he made a good living as an entrepreneur with a corner shop in Brixton. But he hasn’t made his money just through cooldrinks and sweets, but also by lending people money and demanding it back in questionable ways. He also bought and sold illegal substances.
There, he learned of his true origins: that he’s the illegitimate son of Henry Jacobs and therefore heir to the Jacobs fortune. When he appeared in Ruiterbosch, it’s with the intention of demanding his share, to the horror of Bridgette and Lee-Ann Jacobs.
His greed knows no bounds, and he’s always asking for more – no matter how he obtains it. Despite this, he’s a family man. He was brought up with the same moral values as AB, but sees AB as too moralistic and upright, and he’s learned through the years that life isn’t black and white. He wants his life to be a bit more exciting and have more surprises.
Abdullah (AB) Samsodien (Cedwyn Joel)
AB Samsodien is Ruiterbosch’s dependable pharmacist but is also a loving family man with a strong character and firm views. As a Muslim, good family values are very important to him, but he’s also learned that you need to approach life with your eyes wide open, especially when he faced his greatest challenge: he fell in love with another woman and took her as his second wife. In the process, he almost lost the love of his life.
His wife, Mymoena, is everything to him and he worships the ground she walks on. Despite the challenges they’re endured, their love always wins. He’s a soft person who never shies away from his fatherly responsibilities.
Mymoena Samsodien (Jill Levenburg)
Mymoena is an extrovert and a strong woman. She’s a real chatterbox and loves nothing more than a good catchup with her nearest and dearest. She’s happy to sit and talk for hours with her best friends, Mrs J and Kate. Mymoena is soft, loving and motherly, but she doesn’t let anyone walk all over her or her family. In the end, she just wants her family and husband to be happy.
Her marriage to AB has faced a few storms: when her illegitimate daughter, Bianca, suddenly appeared in Ruiterbosch, and when AB announced he intended to marry a second wife.
Rhafiek Samsodien (Irshaad Ally)
Rhafiek Samsodien could easily have been a fairy tale hero in another life – he’s not only good-looking but has a heart of gold and believes in the goodness of people. He’s one of twins and his brother, Rhiyaaz, lives in London. Like his parents, he has good values and people like him, even though he’s a bit too self-righteous.
He has a strict moral compass that also sometimes leads to his downfall when he finds himself in trouble and needs to make decisions fast. He originally worked for Jacobs Property Development but fell out with management and decided to open his own travel agency.
Season 7 update: Mercedes (Lindsay Thys, who has had a small role as a nurse in Arendsvlei) is Rhafiek’s new love interest after his wife Carmen left Ruiterbosch. It’s difficult for Rhafiek though, because on one hand he feels like he’s almost cheating on his wife because she left only just recently. “But at the same time, he loves the company of a woman in his life and he needs that,” explains Irshaad of his character. “He isn’t sure right now that he’ll be ready to marry again, but things are going well with Mercedes.”
Bianca Fourie (Simone Biscombe)
Bianca Fourie is a former waitress who’s now the manager of the popular restaurant East-West. She’s a single mother with a real fighting spirit who’s also a recovering drug addict. She’s frequently the victim of bad relationships but doesn’t lose faith in life.
She’s Mymoena’s daughter, whom she had shortly after she finished matric. She was given up for adoption because Mymoena came from a conservative community. Bianca ended up with good adoptive parents and had happy childhood years in Kuruman, where she was especially close to her adoptive sister, Carmen. She always wondered about her biological mother and gathered the courage to look for Mymoena in Ruiterbosch.
Carmen Fourie (Desiré Gardner)
The rebellious designer Carmen is the adoptive sister of Mymoena Samsodien’s biological daughter, Bianca Fourie. She doesn’t play by the rules, just because her rules differ from those that apply to others. The first time she appeared on Bridgette Jacobs’s eye-wateringly expensive sofa, she was caught with Bridgette’s rebellious son with an engagement ring on her finger. Since then, it’s been one whirlwind after the other, like her fiery friendship with Rhafiek, the handsome Muslim son of AB Samsodien (Ruiterbosch’s trustworthy pharmacist) and their eventual fairytale wedding.
She was scared of commitment for a long time. She has a rebellious streak (the absolute opposite of Bianca) and is impulsive in nature and loves to travel. She loves to share her wisdom and stories of the places she’s seen and the people she’s met along the way.
Season 7 update: Carmen left Ruiterbosch after her premature baby Mikhail died after being diagnosed with developmental condition Edward Syndrome in hospital and she couldn’t bear living with her husband Rhafiek and not their baby. “Carmen had suffered a number of tragedies during her life but this one hurt the most,” says Desire. “She instantly made the decision to leave, and while it caught Rhafiek off-guard, he actually understood. Everything she looked at reminded her of a tragedy and it was just too much,” adds the actress, whose character may return one day.
Imraan Bassier (Marlo Minnaar)
Imraan Bassier appears in Ruiterbosch as the pharmacist’s new assistant – big shoes to fill seeing as the previous assistant, who was like a daughter to AB Samsodien, moved to Prince Albert. We originally meet him as an engaging, charming and dependable Muslim man, but with something of a short fuse – when he feels he’s being threatened or is falsely accused of something he quickly angers. He was born and bred in Beaufort-Wes where he was an achiever in school.
Here in Ruiterbosch, he falls head over heels in love with the wonderful but very shy young chef Kaashifa Monsour and they quickly get married. All he wants is a perfect life: good job, good friends and good family. And it all has to do with how his father treated him as a child …
Season 7 update: Imraan left town after one too many violent and jealous outbursts towards his wife Kaasifa. It was all too much for the quiet and shy Kaashifa to deal with, especially because she had done nothing wrong. “He flew into blind rages for the littlest things. Like if his wife was talking to a customer at the shops or at her workplace and it happened to be a man, Imraan would go ballistic,” says Marlo, whose character refused to get professional help before leaving Ruiterbosch.
Khaasifa is a shiny-eyed young Muslim woman. She’s compassionate, conservative and doesn’t realise how beautiful she is. When we first got to know her, she still lived with her inflexible, and sometimes almost uncaring, grandmother, and at that stage she’d never had a job or a boyfriend. But our mother hen Mymoena took her under her wing and before long Kaashifa had come out of her shell and started her online cooking programme.
Meanwhile, her grandmother died and she now navigates the big wide world on her own, with help here and there from the Samsodiens. She’s a lovely woman, but sometimes too naïve and often wears her heart on her sleeve. It’s no wonder that she falls head over heels for the charming Imraan Bassier.
Wade Daniels (Dean Smith)
When we first meet Wade, he’s directionless and poor, but what he lacks in his wallet he makes up for in spirit. An ambitious young man who’s not ashamed of his background: as a young boy, his parents died tragically, and he was taken away from his older brother. After years in foster care, he arrives at the Suidooster Centre looking for work at the juice shop and falls in love with the princess of Ruiterbosch, property magnate Ian October’s niece, Zoe.
It’s also here that he runs into his long-lost brother and tries to build himself a new life. He and his brother breathe life into any party but he’s also a deep person who’s a bit more reserved than his wild brother.
Tyron (Ty) Daniels (Maurice Paige)
Tyron Daniels makes his appearance as Wade’s long-lost brother. The pair were separated after their parents’ deaths and each landed in foster care for years until their paths crossed again in Ruiterbosch. Now he shares a house with his brother and their best friend, Justin, a waiter at East-West.
He’s cocky, but he has a huge heart and he’s the love of Lee-Ann Jacobs’s life. You always know where you stand with him. He’s a bit conceited and very confident, but he has no hidden agenda and has good intentions.
Season 7 update: Ty’s tween son Carlo (newcomer Jadon Booysen) has arrived in Ruiterbosch accompanied by his guardian Jolene (newcomer Chante Strydom) – her best friend Melanie (not seen onscreen) died and left Carlo in Jolene’s care. Ty never knew that he had a son and it’s been somewhat of a struggle for him lately as he tries to be a father to an angsty young man who has repeatedly told him “I don’t have a father”. “Ty was never told about his son. Naturally he is shocked and he doesn’t know how to handle the situation,” says Maurice, adding that his character “is wary because why did Jolene wait three months (from Melanie’s death) to tell him about Carlo?”
Justin Potgieter (Eden Claassen)
At first glance, Justin comes across as a guy who’s all about muscles and grooming. But he also has a talent for music, and even had his own group called Tamatiestraat, although no one took him too seriously. He works as a waiter at the restaurant East-West in the Suidooster Centre, but it’s not where his father wanted him to end up. As a teenager, he endured his slave-driving father for whom nothing was ever good enough.
That’s why he decided to bid his law degree farewell and make a new start in the Cape. His music career hasn’t exactly taken off, but he’s the kind of person for whom there’s no great rush in life. There’s only one thing he loves more than his guitar, and that’s a beautiful woman.
Season 7 update: Restauranteur Elana (Esther von Waltsleben, Mrs Thorne in local Netflix drama series Blood & Water) opened new restaurant Die Anker with her business partner wife Suzie (newcomer Natasha van der Merwe). But Suzie has a secret past with Ruiterbosch resident Justin – they used to be a couple long ago before things soured. “Elana has a strong personality and doesn’t stand back in a confrontation. She is always honest about things, sometimes to the point of her own detriment,” says Esther. Suzie on the other hand “is an open book and she doesn’t shy away from challenges. She loves risks and loves to work hard… and play harder,” says Natasha.
Kate Vosloo (Annelisa Weiland)
This lady from Pretoria comes with some baggage. She was married to Albertus for years, but he secretly accumulated huge debts. With her divorce finalised, she’s grabbing life by the horns and carving out a new chapter in Ruiterbosch.
She works for the travel agency in the centre and is discovering new things about herself all the time, even at her advanced age. For example, she realised she’s always wanted to be a writer. She has many aspirations, and despite her soft nature, she’s tired of people walking all over her.
Danielle “Danni” Hendricks (Vashti Prins)
The beautiful, freewheeling secretary at Jacobs Property Developers is easy on the eye but she’s a tough nut to crack. Danni was appointed by Lee-Ann Jacobs against the wishes of Ian October to organise the office and in the meantime has had a lot of fun in Ruiterbosch. Her brother almost drowned as a child, something her father blamed her for for years, leading to her trying to escape her family.
She initially fell for the sexy East-West waiter, but while she was trying to win him over, transferred her affections to Tim, the successful architect. This tricky beginning spelled trouble from the start and their love didn’t last long. Fortunately, the charming doctor swept her off her feet. Danni doesn’t shy away from trouble and she’s a good friend to the flighty princess of Ruiterbosch, Zoe October.
Siyabulela “Siya” Thuli (Gantane Kusch)
The young doctor at Ruiterbosch Hospital arrived thinking he was there to save lives, not realising that in the end, he would be the one who needed saving. Siya is a charming and charismatic young man who always tries to help little birds with broken wings. This has led to many disappointments in life.
He’s proud of his work and his work ethic, and he helps to start the first free clinic in Ruiterbosch. He grew up poor: his parents were labourers and they had very little money, but he learned to work hard and fight for what you want.
Joy Benjamin (Monique Rockman)
A rough diamond who doesn’t allow herself to be pushed around. She comes to Ruiterbosch looking for a new life away from her past as a stripper in Johannesburg’s clubs. She’s an old friend of the dodgy corner-shop owner Nazeem Jacobs, but their history also means they can’t just be platonic friends. She had a tough childhood growing up with her aunt and mother and surrounded by drunk men. She ran away from home at 16 and moved to Johannesburg to look after herself.
She quickly falls in love with the poor but well-meaning Wade Daniels, but it doesn’t work out as he still has feelings for Zoe October. For now, she’s working at the cash register in Nazeem’s corner shop, but with a fiery personality like her, there’s always trouble when she’s around.
