By: Sphamandla Blose

The drama series, Isibaya, hijacked the show as they scooped 10 awards in one night during the Royalty Soapie Awards at the International Convention Centre on Saturday night.

The first award they received was the Outstanding Make-up and Hair Award, Outstanding Art Director Award, Outstanding Editing Team Award, Outstanding Lighting Award, and Outstanding Cast Director Award.

They also took the Outstanding Writing Team Award, Outstanding Directing Team, Outstanding Lead Actress Award (Thembi Nyandeni), Outstanding Lead Actor Award (Siyabonga Thwala), and the Outstanding Soapie Award.

On the second lead was 7de laan with three awards, Outstanding Supporting Actor Award (Hennie Jacobs), Supporting Actress Award (Annelize van der Ryst), and the Outstanding Newcomer Award (Simon Nortmann).

Since it’s the first time these Royalty Awards were taking place, the anticipation was not high because no one knew what to expect. 

At first people looked bored but with the live performance from the Metro FM Awards winning group, Mafikizolo, everyone stood on their feet as they shouted and screamed for a good performance.

The show hosts, Hlomla Dandala and Michael Mol, were keen to make the night interesting as they exchanged few jokes before giving the nominees.

An enormous moment and a standing ovation went to Shaleen Surtie-Richards, as she was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her 30 years role in the industry.   

Some of the memorable soapies that she acted on were Generation, 7de Laan, Villa Rosa, and eGoli.

Actors from the 10 award winning soapie, Isibaya, sharing the stage at ICC in Durban on Saturday evening. Pictures from: RoyaltySoapie.com

Though it was a great night for others, but the well known Soapie in South Africa, Generation, didn’t receive even one award despite being nominated in almost all the categories.

This event was a success, though earlier on the red carpet people did not come in numbers to see their beloved actors, and time management was not on point as it was suppose to start at 20:00 but ended up starting at 20:30.

Other awards winners:

Outstanding Set Design award – The Wild

Outstanding Wardrobe award – The Wild

Outstanding Couple award – Isidingo (Tema Sebopedi and Motlatsi Mafatshe)

Outstanding Male Villain – Isidingo (Robert Whitehead)

Outstanding Female Villain – Binneland (Merisa Drummond)

Most Popular Soapie award – Binneland