Wheel of Fortune
Rich-Hate
When Wheel of Fortune returned to South African television on SABC 3, it needed more than awareness. The format was globally recognised, but it risked feeling imported and disconnected from local reality. To truly resonate, the show had to reflect a South African truth audiences immediately recognised as their own.
The Insight
In South Africa, sudden wealth is rarely celebrated without consequence. When someone becomes rich overnight, applause is often followed by suspicion, jealousy, and quiet resentment. This tension between fortune and envy is deeply ingrained in everyday life. It has a name. Rich hate. It is not a concept borrowed from advertising. It is a lived cultural experience.
The Idea
Tell the story of rich hate through the voice of the people. Instead of explaining the insight, let culture carry it. We chose Maskandi, a genre that has functioned for generations as social commentary, gossip, humour, and truth-telling. Maskandi is the newspaper of the people. If rich hate was real, Maskandi was the most honest way to tell it.
The Execution
We colaborated with Umlabalaba, one of South Africa’s most respected young maskandi artists. Every song was recorded live. There were no synthetic loops, no shortcuts, and no imitation. The music was built on raw guitar picking, traditional rhythms, bass, concertina, and live percussion.We did not direct the music. We let the music lead. Umlabalaba’s instinct, heritage, and cadence shaped the storytelling. Because authenticity cannot be manufactured. It has to be lived.
