The Big Picture
- The Ultimatum: South Africa features brutally honest couples testing commitment, leading to betrayal and heartbreak.
- One couple's sex scandal triggers tearful confessions, heartbreak, and confrontations among the cast.
- Raw honesty and authenticity in the show distinguish it from typical reality TV, showcasing true relationship challenges.
Networks realized decades ago that dysfunctional relationships make for great reality television. Under the guise of social experiments, relationship reality continues to strike gold. The Ultimatum is a popular franchise built around the premise of testing a couple's commitment and forcing a reluctant partner's hand in marriage. Understanding Netflix serves a large African demographic, it was easy to see how a South African version of the franchise could do well on the platform. Aside from the cast's exotic names and South African dialect, and the beautiful backdrop of Johannesburg,South Africa, the couple's issues seemed synonymous with seasons past.
The series debuted under the tutelage of reality host couple Vanessa and Nick Lachey, but the show's popularity created an opportunity for additional franchises to emerge. The Ultimatum: Queer Love was immediately a favorite, but the six couples cast for The Ultimatum: South Africa have proven to be the most brutally honest group in reality dating history.
The Ultimatum: Queer Love
TV-MAReality-TVFollow couples of women and non-binary people over eight weeks, as they find themselves at a critical point in their relationship, one, ready for marriage and the other one not.
Release Date May 24, 2023 Cast Vanessa Papa , Lexi Goldberg , Raelyn Cheung-Sutton , Mal Wright Main Genre Reality-TV Seasons 1The Partner Swap on 'The Ultimatum: South Africa' Proved Was Chaotic
Labeled a six-way partner swap, the series started much like other versions with six attractive couples bonded by one commonality. Each couple had one partner who was ready for marriage, and one partner who was not quite ready to upgrade their relationship from boyfriend and girlfriend to fiancé preparing to be husband and wife. There were obvious cultural differences in the familial involvement and expectation of a marriage proposal, but episode one, titled, "The Split" felt just as hopeful as past premiere episodes of the show. Hosted by the South African power couple Salamina and Howza Mosese, who could easily double as a more intellectual, South African version of Nick and Vanessa Lachey, the series started with a nervous cast filled with anxiety about the days ahead.
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Almost immediately, it was apparent that the South African cast was much more vocal about their feelings than the couples in past seasons. Sizakele and Lindile stood out from the other couples because, unlike the usual dynamic, Lindile, the man was requesting the ultimatum. Although the couple had only been dating for six months, the handsome model was convinced he wanted to spend the rest of his life with his beautiful girlfriend. A charming free-spirit well aware of her ability to intoxicate the opposite sex, Sizakele was optimistic about the experiment. As they prepared for the swap, she told Lindile that he should stop referring to her as "babe", to fully embrace the process. Sizakele was matched with Nkateko, for the trial marriage, and she wasted no time treating him as a loving husband.
For Nkateko, Sizakele's flirtatious nature was a much-needed change from his girlfriend Khanya who presented him with the ultimatum. A beautiful girl used to getting her way based on her physicality alone, Khanya quickly earned the title of "mean girl" in the group. While watching Sizakele getting a piggyback ride from Nkateko, Khanya body-shamed her by telling those around them that Sizakele was out of Nkateko's weight class and too heavy for him to carry.
The Trial Marriages Trumped Previous Franchises
Khanya continued to be a thorn in the side of most of the cast, but mostly to her trial husband Isaac. Initially, Isaac chose Khanya because of her obvious beauty and his ego was boosted after she stated the rest of the men in the group were boring and not worth her time. Isaac isn't the first man to be beguiled by beauty, but his experience could serve as a cautionary tale to men making choices based solely on physical beauty. Soon after the experiment started, Khanya became antagonistic and refused to cook or clean up after Isaac or herself. Unwilling to embrace the role of a typical wife, Khanya informed Isaac that not only was she not cooking or cleaning for him, but she insisted that he bring her items daily from the store. When Isaac accused Khanya of not being "wife material", she scoffed and doubled down in her stance. Isaac realized he had made a grave mistake choosing Khanya, and she took every opportunity to let the rest of the cast know that she wasn't interested in continuing the experiment with Isaac.
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Isaac realized much too late that he had made a mistake in choosing his trial wife, but his biggest error was coming to the experiment with his girlfriend Ruth. Ruth chose Lebbo for her trial husband but unlike the other couples, she had no qualms about embracing the new trial marriage with Nolla. Within the first two nights, Lebbo and Ruth began unapologetically having sex in plain sight of the cameras and under the suspicion of the other couples. Even after Nolla's girlfriend Lebbo caught the two holding hands while spying through their bedroom window, the trial partners denied the allegation and then returned to their room for more lovemaking. Eventually, Ruth decided she couldn't live with the deception and was going to come clean to Nolla's girlfriend Lebbo. She pulled her to the side and asked her if she wanted to know the truth. After Lebbo tearfully nodded yes, Ruth proceeded to tell her bluntly, "I haven't slept with Nolla once or twice, it's been many, many times."
Heartbreak Set the Tone for 'The Ultimatum: South Africa'
Lebbo's tearful breakdown tugged at viewers' heartstrings, but the storm was still brewing. Ruth's revelation to Lebbo made its way back to her boyfriend, Isaac, who was now heartbroken after hearing that his girlfriend had been engaging in ongoing sex with her trial husband while he starved in an apartment with a woman who refused to cook, clean or even talk to him. Ironically, Isaac admitted he should've chosen Lebbo for his trial wife, but it was too late at this point. A broken Lebbo leaves the experiment and Nolla leaves along with her to save face.
Social media reacted strongly to the love triangle. Most viewers were shocked at Ruth's boldness and authenticity. When asked if she was sorry for her actions, Ruth simply said no. "I am not sorry because I slept with Nolla, because I wanted to. I don't regret it." During the confessional, Nolla was asked a similar question, and he echoed Ruth's words. "I am not sorry for what I did because I wanted to sleep with Ruth. I don't regret it."
Most reality dating experiments allow cast members to get away with secret alliances and hookups that surface later on social media or after the hype has died down from the show and cast members need more attention on social media. The Ultimatum: South Africa was often hard to watch because the cast members refused to curb their answers to make themselves look good for the camera. Before her boyfriend Nolla betrayed her, Lebbo was honest about her severe insecurities. "I tend to expect the worst to protect myself from disappointment," she shared with the cameras sadly.
Lebbo's sadness left a heaviness that was hard to shake, but undeniably honest. Instead of attempting to put on a show for the cameras or even her cast members, Lebbo remained true to her feelings and her inability to navigate through Nolla's blatant betrayal while on film.
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After the couples returned to their original partners, the cast experienced an insurmountable amount of pain and uneasiness in front of the cameras. Khanya continued body-shaming and insulting her cast members, labeling Ruth ugly, and Sizakele fat and dumb. The men were less dramatic, but at one point, Isaac and Nolla's confrontation almost erupted in fisticuffs.
The season was full of raw, brutal honesty that often made viewers cringe, but also provided an opportunity for authentic self-reflection. The reunion followed the same pace as the season, with more drama from Nolla and Lebbo. After reconciling, Lebbo waited until the reunion to break up with Nolla, citing his inability to change as the reason she finally needed to move on. Nolla was caught off guard but given a harsh reality check from his fellow cast member, Genesis. "Sometimes, because we're guys, we need to feel pain to see and to understand. Time is not on our side, we're getting old, but we can't transform our bodies and not our minds," Genesis advised Nolla.
From Genesis tough love to Lebbo's heartbreak and both Ruth and Isaac returning solo to the reunion, The Ultimatum: South Africa offered an authentic glimpse at the mayhem that can occur when a couple focused on longevity play around with the idea of partner swapping, even if only for three weeks. The SA Ultimatum cast entered the experiment prepared to remain present in every stage and, for that reason, the audience probably got a more realistic snapshot detailing how much pain can come as a result of taking your relationship issues to reality television instead of to a licensed therapist.
The SA cast appeared less driven by the lure of being on television and instead remained committed to the task of discovering if their current relationship should become their future. Reality television fans often complain of false story lines and narratives created by production to make "good TV". Unlike some of the other shows in the Kinetic Content catalog, The Ultimatum: South Africa managed to create great television with a cast committed to telling the truth, by any means necessary, and the audience still can't get enough of it.
The Ultimatum: South Africa can be streamed on Netflix.
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