ETV's 'Smoke & Mirrors' Replaced with 'Emzini', SA Reacts: "Sounds Like the Same Stuff"
- ETV has confirmed the latest telenovela to replace Smoke & Mirrors, which was canned in 2025
- Smoke & Mirrors producers are reportedly working on the new TV show, which has replaced the popular telenovela
- South Africans on social media commented on the upcoming TV show on Thursday, 19 March 2026
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Source: Twitter
Popular South African telenovela Smoke & Mirrors, which previously starred Zolisa Xaluva and Hlomla Dandala, has reportedly been replaced with a new TV show titled Emzini.
Smoke & Mirrors recently trended on social media when the teasers revealed that its popular character Jaxon, played by Mishack Mavuso Magabane, will be killed.
ETV surprised South Africans in 2025 when it confirmed in 2025 that the show had been canned after 3 seasons.
Entertainment commentator Jabu McDonald revealed on his X account on Thursday, 19 March 2026, that eTV has replaced Smoke & Mirrors with a new telenovela titled Emzini.
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"Smoke and Mirrors producers are working on a new telenovela titled ‘Emzini’. Set in Alexandra, the show follows a powerful family that runs a successful lounge called Emzini, hiding dark secrets behind their wealth and status. As buried truths of betrayal and past sacrifices begin to surface, the cost of protecting their legacy becomes dangerously high. The cast has not yet been revealed, but the new show premieres on 13 April 2026 at 9 PM on ETV," said McDonald.
Social media users react to the upcoming telenovela
@ZunguThandanan3 said:
"I wish those dark secrets and sacrifices were about Ukuthwalawe. Don't really have a show where the storyline focuses on Ukuthwala (ritual)that would be so refreshing...just as Isibaya, it was so refreshing to witness a storyline about Imikhovu."
@mxo94 responded:
"Powerful family and dark secrets. That's been the foundation of almost all telenovelas."
@Philile76769191 wrote:
"Nothing we have never seen before, same thing all over again. These shows will keep getting canceled."
@tak27519 reacted:
"Sounds like the same stuff we have been watching over and over again, just a different title and different cast."
@Tsigwili replied:
"They failed smoke and mirrors, who's approving new telenovelas, because the same thing will happen to 'Emzini', they must check where they failed."
@HendersonRegen wrote:
"And can we not have a funeral in the first 10 episodes?"
@ThattyELMo said:
"I'm definitely going to miss Emnyameni, can't even lie."
@leroychimu reacted:
"It's screaming eThembeni from Temu."
@Rhulaniluks commented:
"Same old, same old recycled storylines.will be after 2 seasons."
@Tee_Ner reacted:
"We've been down this road, we know the storyline."
@KayMosoeunyane replied:
"Same storyline everywhere, bored."
@luyanda25x said:
"Same show, different name all the time."
Source: Twitter
South Africans shook as eTV cancels Scandal! after 20 years
In more entertainment news, Briefly News previously reported that ETV surprised soapie fans on Friday, 26 September 2025, when it canned Scandal! after 20 years on television.
The SAFTA-award-winning soapie-turned-telenovela is currently led by actors Mapaseka Koetle and Seputla Sebogodi.
Fans of the TV show took to social media this week to share their views about the ending of the popular show.
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Source: Briefly News
