South African audiences are in for a hilarious treat as Showmax and kykNET prepare to premiere Die Kantoor, a local adaptation of the globally loved comedy series, The Office licensed by BBC Studios. kykNET will preview the first episode at 8PM on Sunday, 18 January, ahead of the Showmax double bill premiere on Tuesday, 20 January.
South Africa’s version of a global hit
Over 20 years ago, The Office was introduced to the world by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Since then, it has become a cult comedy, winning multiple awards globally. The American version won five Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series, and was the world’s most streamed show in 2020.
The creative team
SAFTA and Silwerskerm winner Bennie Fourie is the head writer and director. He is the co-creator of SAFTA Best TV Comedy winner Hotel and plays Baltus in the award-winning mockumentary Magda Louw.
“It’s a massive honour to be able to make the show,” says Bennie. “When we started way back with Hotel, this was the type of show that we were trying to emulate. I don’t think we were ready to make it then but after 10 years of playing with the mockumentary genre, now is the perfect time for us to do this. Everything has really fallen into place and we’re extremely excited.”
Bennie is clear he’s not just translating The Office into Afrikaans to remake it shot-by-shot with local actors. Instead, he’s reimagined it from the ground up. “South Africa is not the UK and it’s not the US, and we really wanted to reflect that,” says Bennie.
This started by changing the office setting from a paper company to Deluxe Processed Meats, which specialises in polony.
“South Africa is a proud meat-consuming nation,” says Bennie. “From biltong to droëwors to steak, many South Africans find some of our identity in the meat we eat. But polony is not on that list. It’s just so flippen pink. When you’re standing around a braai, the last thing you want to say is that you are passionate about polony. Especially after that Listeriosis outbreak.”
The staff are looked down upon by their head office, Deluxe Meats, who specialise in prime cuts, and no one feels safe in their positions, as a BBBEE business consortium recently bought a large part of the company.
Rapid Blue produced Is’thunzi, which earned Thuso Mbedu two International Emmy nominations.
The cast
Die Kantoor has a mix of seasoned and fresh actors with 2025 Fleur du Cap winner Albert Pretorius ((Niggies; Nêrens, Noord-Kaap) leading the cast as Flip, the office manager. “Flip’s only been the manager for the last year but he’s excited to welcome the documentary crew,” says Bennie. “He feels like this is his Chasing the Sun; like his rise to greatness needs to be recorded.”
The ensemble cast also includes SAFTA winner Schalk Bezuidenhout (Kanarie, Hotel), screen legend Lida Botha (Die Kwiksilvers), Carl Beukes (Jozi, The Shakedown), Silwerskerm winner Ilse Oppelt (Oh Schuks I’m Gatvol, Fishy Fêshuns), Daniah de Villiers (Mia in Mia and the White Lion), Mehboob Bawa (Bhai in Bhai’s Cafe), former KFM presenter Sipumziwe Lucwaba, and newcomer Gert du Plessis.
While you wait for the South African African version in January, re-watch The Office S1-9 on Showmax:
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