[category]
[title]
Brakpan has spent years as South Africa’s favourite punchline, the setting for memes, jokes, and viral “what did I just watch?” videos. It’s shorthand for anything considered loud, rough or vaguely unhinged. But what happens when a place that lives mostly online gets the documentary treatment?
That’s the question at the heart of Brakpan Chronicles, a new two-part documentary series landing on Showmax on Friday, 20 February 2026. The trailer, released this week, makes it clear this isn’t a tidy redemption arc or a tourism ad, but a raw, often uncomfortable look at a town most people think they already understand.
Created by Rian van Heerden and Provoco, the team behind Sex in Afrikaans and Tiek Tok Boem!, the series sets out to strip Brakpan back to its bones, beyond the memes and mockery, and ask whether anything we “know” about the place is actually true.
“Brakpan’s become a punchline, so we wanted to share the full story, or get bliksemed trying,” says van Heerden.
The documentary moves between Brakpan’s legendary landmarks, including Carnival City, The Rock Raceway, Maskell’s Hotel, Thirsty Okes, Rosetulee, and Ziggy T’s Roadhouse, and the people who give the town its reputation, for better or worse.
Among them is Ratkas, the pawn shop owner who went viral on TikTok for funnelling a one-litre bottle of Richelieu brandy; Terence “Supra” Labuschagne, a one-legged slapfighter; female bouncers Hester Croucamp and Lina Stoltz; and former cop Jan “Stolla” Stols, who recalls the time the army had to be called in to break up a Brakpan brawl.
“Brakpan is just a treasure trove of colourful, eccentric, larger-than-life personalities,” says van Heerden, who won the 2024 Silwerskerm Award for Best Presenter for Wie Word ’n Miljoenêr.
While the series largely lets Brakpaners speak for themselves, it also zooms out to interrogate the idea of “commonness” itself. Etiquette icon Emsie Schoeman weighs in on how easily a place or community can be labelled, and how hard that label is to shake.
Van Heerden also tracks down viral YouTubers theboys, brothers Matthew and Joseph Parry, whose video Investigating The Most Weird Town in South Africa! helped cement Brakpan’s online mythology. Joseph passed away last year, adding a bittersweet layer to their segment.
For many viewers, Brakpan exists somewhere between myth and meme. But Brakpan Chronicles reminds us that for thousands of people, it’s simply home.
RECOMMENDED
🛏️ Where to stay in Johannesburg
🏨 The best hotels in Johannesburg
🍽 The best restaurants in Johannesburg
🍺 The best pubs and bars in Johannesburg
Follow Time Out Johannesburg on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram!