Gripping true-crime series explores the legacy of notorious serial killer Moses Sithole
Image: Supplied.
The gripping trailer has been released for the upcoming true-crime documentary series, "The ABC Killer", which takes an unsettling look into the life of notorious serial killer Moses Sithole.
The Showmax series revisits a dark chapter in South Africa's history, offering both a haunting narrative and a fresh perspective on a case that still sends shivers down the spine.
Three decades ago, Tamsen de Beer, a rookie journalist at "The Star" newspaper, received an unprecedented call that would forever alter her life and career.
The voice on the other end of the line claimed to be South Africa's most prolific serial killer, calling himself "The ABC Killer" – a name derived from his modus operandi of targeting young, black women across vulnerable areas like Atteridgeville, Boksburg and Cleveland in Gauteng.
Tamsen de Beer.
Image: Supplied.
In a chilling confession, De Beer recounts her journey in the trailer, stating: "It was like a journey I was on with him. We were bonded in a strange, ugly way. I was hoping he was okay all the time, which is absolutely crazy."
Her disturbing connection with Sithole came during the same year that the late Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected president.
Sithole was ultimately convicted of 38 murders, 40 rapes and six robberies, all committed in broad daylight over just a year and while sober.
"This was the biggest case of our history at the time," reflects former detective Derrick Nosworthy in the trailer.
"I don't think we had ever had a case where there were so many people murdered by potentially one offender," he continues.
Former detective Derrick Nosworthy in "The ABC Killer".
Image: Supplied.
Director Jasyn Howes, who was a young boy in Johannesburg during the height of Sithole's killing spree, draws parallels with infamous American serial killer Ted Bundy, noting, 'He was our Ted Bundy.'
The three-part series follows Howes's critically acclaimed first documentary, "Boetie Boer", about another infamous 90s serial killer, Stewart Wilken, which was nominated for various Saftas last year.
In "The ABC Killer", Howes engages some of the key figures from the harrowing saga.
Interviewees include de Beer alongside her night editor, Alameen Brendan Templeton, who expresses concerns for her safety.
South Africa's first profiler, Micki Pistorius, and several former detectives also contribute their insights regarding one of the most chilling cases of their careers.
The series brings audiences closer to the voices of resilience through firsthand accounts, such as that of survivor Buyiswa Swakhamisu, who relives her traumatic experience with Sithole.
'He used the promise of work to convince her to follow him,' it was revealed.
Survivor Buyiswa Swakhamisu in "The ABC Killer".
Image: Supplied.
The documentary promises exclusivity with unique content, including an anonymous inmate's video interview with Sithole, as well as official archival footage of his 1995 police questioning.
Howes, in a similar fashion to "Boetie Boer", employs extensive re-enactments filmed at real-world locations integral to Sithole's story, including "The Star" newspaper headquarters and the Pretoria High Court.
Gifter Ngobenisen portrays Sithole, while Louise van der Merwe steps into the role of De Beer.
Rounding out the cast is Graham Hopkins as Judge George Curlewis.
With meticulous research involving diary entries from de Beer, transcripts of her phone conversations with Sithole, and intimate letters to clinical psychologist Dr Giada Del Fabbro, the series promises a thorough examination of a case rife with implications about society, crime and empathy.
Even while serving an astonishing 2 410 years in prison, Sithole remains a chilling figure, reportedly studying law after completing a degree in theology.
"The ABC Killer" is set to premiere on Showmax on Tuesday, July 22.
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As for Thamm's increasingly degenerate journalism, in which she has cast the Tribunal as an 'intellectual heavyweight title fight between the Old Patriarchs and the Gender-Based Violence Expert,' – is not worthy of anything more than the derision we reserve for mercenaries fighting in service of empire. Her reductionism flattens a complex and politically charged legal encounter into a tired has-been morality play. Far from being a helpless woman pitted against patriarchal power, the expert witness in this case is ideologically armed and institutionally weaponised. The case cannot be read through the paternalism of liberal gender tropes. It demands to be read through the fresh lens of decolonial thought and praxis. And this case is not simply about personal conduct. It is about ideological warfare. It is about who gets to speak, who is erased, and what forms of knowing are cast as either legitimate or deviant. More than ever we are witnessing an all-out assault on radical Black thought, African jurisprudence, and decolonial critique under the sanitised banner of human rights and democracy. The interest shown in this case by donor-funded media and NGO actors must be interrogated. It bears the familiar markings of regime-change politics: rooting out those who threaten liberal orthodoxy, targeting those whose authority emerges beyond the limits of civil society funding pipelines. The soft coup unfolding within the GNU has ideological foot soldiers in law, media and academia. Their project is to purge the judiciary, academia, and political thought of any element that does not conform to Western standards of civility and containment. What we are witnessing, then, is not justice – but ideological capture. Whether South Africa can resist this and re-centre African epistemology remains the question. What is clear is that the machinery of liberal capture is always in motion – and it speaks with one voice. * You can read Gillian's academic analysis here: The Erotics of Power, the Semantics of Guilt: A Decolonial Disruption of South African Legal Discourse * Gillian Schutte is a South African writer, filmmaker and social critic. She writes on decoloniality, media and political resistance across the Global South. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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