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As we lay “Generations” to rest, as with every other funeral, it is a humane principle to grant the loved ones an opportunity to say a proper goodbye. We give you a bit of the soapie’s history.
After over two decades of programming, the most watched soapie went off air for the first time on Wednesday.

“Generations” was one of the most watched soapies in the country, rating over seven million viewers per episode. It will indeed be remembered.

Following the new found democracy in 1994, South African Broadcasting Corporation decided to have a show that would portray the togetherness in the new South Africa, portraying black people being successful and holding high positions and owning companies like David Phethoe (played Paul Moroka), who owned New Horizons, which was the biggest black-owned company at the time.

There were other actors like a white woman Rina Nienaber(Baba Swanepoel in the soapie), who played a motherly role to her black tenants who were occupying her commune. She always wore an apron and cleaned the house, which were usually things that a black woman would do. This made “Generations” gain a lot of popularity amongst black South Africans whom to this day, still refer to actors by the names they used on the soapie, like Sello Maake Ka-Ncube, who is to this day still known as Archie Moroka.

There was also Sophie Ndaba who will always be known as Queen Moroka.

Archie Moroka took over New Horizons from his father only to handover the company to his sister Connie Ferguson (Karabo Moroka), who had made a name for herself as a model.

We were then introduced to Rapulane Seiphemo, who played Tau Mogale, a businessman that took in Mike Mvelase (Khaphela Ncgobo) and Winnie Modise (Khethiwe Buthelezi) into his house as servants and ended up adding them to his will.

There were a lot of other actors that have since left the soapie including the likes of Fana Mokoena (Dr Mandla Sithole), Sonia Sedibe (Ntombi Dlomo) and many more.

We then had Menzi Ngubane, who played Sibusiso Dlomo before the show played its last episode yesterday.

Dlomo was a feared man who went by an underground name of Ngamla who ran very successful business but had a few shady dealings on the side.

For many years, over seven million South Africans had a date with SABC 1 at 8 o’clock from Monday to Friday and a very few missed it.

Wednesday was the first time in years when the show was off-air, replaced by the Polokwane based-drama “Skeem Sam”. – Sowetan.