Isidingo producer Pumla Hopa dies at 59

Pumla Hopa, the television producer who started on the first episode of Isidingo and later ran the SABC3 soap as executive producer, died on Wednesday, 28 October. She was 59.

Her family announced her death in a memorial notice shared on social media.

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our dear mother.

The notice added that "her kindness, warmth and love touched the lives of many". The cause of death has not been made public, and funeral arrangements are still to be announced.

From assistant director to the top job

Hopa was an assistant director on Isidingo's first episode, which aired on 7 July 1998. She stayed with the weekday soap and was its executive producer by 2008, steering it through a difficult production period that brought major changes to its look and storylines, as TV with Thinus reported.

When Rohan Dickson took over as showrunner in 2016, Hopa moved on to new scripted projects at Endemol. She was linked to the company for close to three decades and worked as a director and executive producer across both its scripted and unscripted slates.

At the start of 2021 she became chief executive and executive producer of her own company, Hopa Saunders Media, where she kept developing local drama until her death. Her later credits include My Brother's Keeper, Bogaditsong: Sister Wives and Mzansi Magic's Stokvel Season.

"A formidable talent"

Tributes from the industry followed quickly. Television executive Helga Palmer wrote on Facebook: "This hurts. I am overcome with great sadness with the loss of the great Pumla Hopa."

Our TV industry has lost a formidable talent.

Actress Masasa Mbangeni posted on X: "Thank you for giving us incredible television." Simphiwe Ngema, who played Phindi on Isidingo, thanked Hopa for showing her that a woman could lead in an industry dominated by men.

The South African Film and Television Awards also sent condolences to her family, friends and colleagues, describing her as a "prominent executive producer and media executive".

What is still unannounced

The family notice is the record of her death. It does not give a cause, and it does not give a funeral date. Both were still outstanding when The Citizen, TV with Thinus and the SAFTAs reported the news.

Fans responding to the news remembered seeing her name in Isidingo's closing credits. She had earned that credit from the floor up, starting as an assistant director in 1998.