A broken cop, a mercenary's bullet, and a dead man who never existed. South Africa's past doesn't stay buried.
Season 1 • Episode 10
LatestZatopek (Zet) van Heerden is an ex-cop, a damaged man who describes himself as trash and acts self-destructively. He reluctantly agrees to take on a job for attorney Hope Beneke. Jan Smit, an antiques dealer, has been killed; tortured with a blowtorch then shot in the back of the head. An execution-style murder. The weapon used was an M16, a military gun, favoured by mercenaries. The contents of Smit's safe are missing and that includes his will which is needed to settle his estate. When van Heerden tries to find out more he discovers that Jan Smit had a false ID and sets out to uncover who he was. His investigations lead him into South Africa's murky past and attracts the unwelcome attention of brutal killers. Meyer effectively weaves together the progress of the investigation with van Heerden's account of his life story leading up to the awful events that resulted in his fall from grace and loss of integrity.
Acting
Neil Sandilands embodies ruin with devastating restraint.
Writing
Deon Meyer's novel adapted with literary patience.
Creators
Deon Meyer, Gerrit Schoonhoven
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Deon Meyer is South Africa's premier crime writer; this adaptation emerged when Afrikaans-language prestige TV was just finding its feet internationally.
The M16 as murder weapon isn't random—its presence signals apartheid-era cross-border military operations and the mercenaries who carried them out.
ZA
