7de Laan

7de Laan is an extraordinary microcosm where good and bad, evil and wholesome characters find themselves forming part of a wholesome community where no matter what – everyone counts and everyone cares…

A bomb was planted in the Heights – Kopano dies, Esti ends up in a vegetative state, Tjattas’s hearing is temporarily damaged (he learns sign language) and Oppiekoffie is destroyed. Thomas is left without a mother; Rickus has to deal with losing his wife a day after their wedding. He starts taking antidepressants and experiences blackouts when he mixes his meds with alcohol. When Justin finds out that Amanda and Luka are in Ireland, Justin decides to leave Hillside to finally be a father to Luka. (This is the actor’s exit.) Bonita is left devasted. Eddie and Vee prepare for a Spelling Bee, with Ivy and Marvin taking the competition way too seriously. An old face re-enters Hillside – Nozi. She pretends to be a successful model. In fact, she is broke, and homeless. She signs up for a Blesser service and is matched up with a rich older man who turns out to be Khethiwe’s father. Nozi eventually starts working for Lesedi.

Love sparks (light) between Chris and Mariaan. Lesedi decides to employ Mienkie to get Rickus to sign over his Heights’ shares to her. Mienkie tells Lesedi to back off Ricky. another OG Hillsider shows up – Kabelo. He is now a doctor and a steamy fling develops between him and Lesedi. Two new characters are introduced – Shady, Bonita’s niece, and Ludo, a hippie with a quirky personality. Bonita’s brother, Trigger (an escaped convict) shows up in Hillside, but he is unrecognisable after plastic surgery. Vanessa falls for “Byron”, Trigger’s alter-ego. Bonita helps Trigger escape and lies to the police. After going on a date with a man and Lana finding out, Shawn is forced to finally come clean and admit that he is gay. Lana sues him for misrepresentation. Lana and Rickus develop a friendship. Running concurrently, André is facing an uncertain future when he is being tried for his abuse of Mariaan. (Court case takes place during 16 days of Activism.) André is found guilty and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. The prosecutor, Susan, is revealed to be André’s half-sister. Chris plans to demolish the squatter camp to build a luxury resort. On the day of the eviction, Lesedi gets a last-minute interdict to halt the demolition.

Gabby and Tjattas start dating. Alexa returns from MSF. Fikani realises that Alexa contracted a very rare and highly contagious virus. (This is our rendition of Covid 19 integration). The Peterson family gets a new house for Christmas. Charmaine gifts Oppiekoffie to Vanessa. Vanessa decides to offer Oppie to Vince, who agrees to buy it from her. The grand re-opening of Oppiekoffie happens in episode 5000. Ivy becomes the manager of Beleef and Marvin is well on his way to re-joining the police force. Light: Ivy prepares to take her driving test. The triangle between Chris, DeWet and Mariaan intensifies. Chris is insanely jealous. An older lady, Kotie, enters our world. She believes Mariaan stole her son (Rickus). She kidnaps Mariaan on New Year’s Eve. Chris and DeWet both find out where Mariaan is held and a shoot-out ensues. Everyone is safe, but Kotie escapes. Chris convinces Mariaan that DeWet was behind Kotie surfacing after so many years and they set out to destroy DeWet. They find out that he is actually Ben Cronjé and forces him to sign over everything he owns. Mariaan and Chris move back into the Welman House. With the help of his friends and family Fikani puts together the most romantic of proposals. Alexa says yes. Fikani goes back to the clinic and operates again. We go into prison and follow André who is throwing himself into therapy and group sessions. Here he meets Boeta and Ty (both previously on 7de Laan). Boeta seems like the perfect mentor, but he and Ty are planning an escape. When DeWet hears of this, he offers his help. Ty and Boeta escape and Boeta takes André with him. Boeta goes to Connie to get money. André attacks Boeta and phones Marvin, who dispatches police.

We introduce Shawn’s younger sister, Mieke when she comes for a visit. A man, Denzil, enters Oppiekoffie and announces himself to be the true owner of Oppiekoffie. Vince is devasted and wants to leave Hillside. Christopher films a video of his father cooking and Vince is an overnight sensation. Zola Nene contacts Vince and offers him a great opportunity – a cooking show in Canada. (This is the actor’s exit, yet the couple will stay married.) Mariaan’s bubble of familial bliss is burst when CJ and Kayla (Chris’s twins) show up, together with their mother Lianie. CJ and Kayla scheme to get their parents together. The plan fails. For Valentine’s Day Bruynwaves organises a “Liefdeskou”. Khethiwe and Romeo win the competition and it seems like they are fixing to fall in love, when Shady kisses Romeo off his feet. Shady and Romeo start a relationship. Emile is back in Hillside, handing out parcels to homeless people. Lana meets him there and sets him and Shawn up on a date. Shawn is hesitant at first, but he really likes Emile. Their relationship starts. We have some fun when the young bunch believes Karmen has a 6th sense and she can predict the Lotto numbers. Boer Braam (bringing with him a new facet to the show – the farm life) is introduced when Ivy and the twins are in a car accident. He gets a crush on Connie.