With new kid on the block Isibaya hogging award shows and media attention, long standing local soaps have had to make a few changes to make sure that they stay relevant.

We caught up with Sivan Pillay, Managing Director of Endemol (production company behind Isidingo) to find out what fans can expect from the residents of Horizon Deep.

Under the theme: ‘New Horizon in the Deep’, the brain behind SABC 3’s highest rating show plan to introduce new characters and an interesting storyline which is sure to hit home with many South Africans.

“Isidingo’s stories have always been of social relevance and have been woven into social reality,” Pillay says.

“So it’s basically taking the microcosm of our society; rich, and poor, young and old then asking what are the types of stories that would bring these people together, he adds.

Like Muvhango and Generations, the soap also wants to attract big stars to help boost ratings, starting with actress Natalie Becker who is best known for her roles in movies such as Disgrace, The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior.

“For us, it’s a huge coup to have her on our show and we are very thankful to have been able to attract her and that she saw Isidingo as a challenge,” Pillay says.

Becker will play the character of Leila October, a journalist who brings a bit of drama and conflict to Lerato and Sechaba’s relationship.

A new family will also be introduced to go with the show’s vision of maintaining social relevance.

“Any story that is socially relevant, we are going to migrate towards it. We are still going to tackle the hard issues and throw it out for public debate,” he says.

“This family is rooted where the Matabanes used to be when they started. The father works for the mine and the mother is a domestic worker, Pillay explains.

It is a type of household that is relevant to South Africa and depicts what most households look like.”

Although Pillay is reluctant about naming the actors who have been cast for these roles, he mentions that they are both established and good actors.

Fans will also start seeing a bigger focus on Lerato and Sechaba and less of Zeb and Agnes.

“The Matabanes more so now, are represented by Sechaba and Lerato, so you’ll be seeing less of Agnes and Zeb as the new family starts coming in”.

The changes however will happen gradually so as not to alienated the viewers.

Pillay also clarified that the changes in the Matabane household were not linked to recent rumours about Don Mlangeni (Zeb Matabane) being fired from the show.

“When I see media reports that he has been fired I’m puzzled because he works everyday and is on contract,” he says.

“That being said I don’t think any role can last forever, it’s very rare that you find that. We have to change with our audience; we’ve got to service our audience’s needs.”

The soap has received some criticism and raised a few eyebrows with the current storyline which shares some similarities with the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

“Our story line is about a father and son and it focuses more Barker’s relationship with his nephew Bradley,” Pillays explains.

“We created the story in October, what we didn’t expect was for the trial and the story to happen at the same time.”

“We started shooting these episodes in Dec/Jan so anything could have happened to push the trial up. The timing is just coincidental”

“We’ll never take a decision or stance pro or against anything but we’ll certainly create points for debates,” he adds.

Pillay hopes that the new changes will put Isidingo back on top and keep debates on issues that affect us going.

“We’re very competitive and we want to be the best show and most of all we want people to keep talking about us” he concludes.