Donkerland, Episode 13

1838. Pieter de Witt has problems with the English authorities at the Cape Colony. He escapes and flees to the north, alongside thousands of others who all seek their own Canaan.

1840. Pieter's wife, Margriet, is expecting their first child. Mpande asks the farmers for help him dethrone his brother, Dingane, in exchange for cattle. Pieter leaves his family alone on their farm, Donkerland.

1881 - shortly before the Battle of Majuba during the First Anglo-Boer War. Pieter's eldest son, Jacob, is now married and a father. Pieter himself is very set against the war.

The Second Anglo-Boer War lasts from 1899 till 1902. The Boers declare war against the English and now a torrent of fire and blood engulfs the land - and Donkerland.

1902. Peace has been declared, but the country is in ruins, Donkerland included. Piet Junior and his headman, Bongani, return to the farm. They will start anew.

1929. Klein Piet is now a grown man and in charge of the farm. Drought and the Depression have already lured many farmers to the city and mines, including Klein Piet's middle son, Henk.

The police arrive on Donkerland. The body of a Black representative from a union washed out on the banks of the Tugela river. Fingers from the farmworkers point towards one of Klein Piet's sons.

The Depression and struggles are a thing of the past. Ouboet is the only De Witt man left on Donkerland. But then Dirk returns to his past, to claim half of a place he tried so hard to forget.

Dirk claims half of Donkerland and rips the De Witt family further apart. The festering bitterness between family members bring dark secrets from the past to the fore.

It's 1976 and Donkerland's future, Johan, fight for the country on the border. An uneasiness creeps into the Donkerland house and causes a wave of discord and chaos.

The accusations of the lawyer, Alcock, shakes the family to its core. Plus, with Frederik's head filled with war stories, there is no end to his lunacy.

In 1996 Piet-Jan is lying on his death bed and Johan is on the brink to lose Donkerland forever, to the very same family who helped to establish the farm.

Johan and Mtonga must answer for their hardheaded behaviour, that threatens the future of Donkerland. Mariaan and Truida want to make peace with their past and find hope for the future.