Provocative South African thriller

Justice Served, a suspense-filled thriller series, will launch on Netflix on July 29.

In the series, a freedom fighter and his followers, who have a secret agenda, hijack a courthouse to let the public decide if a murder accused - a white man accused of killing a young black man - should be executed.

The public has a few hours to vote for his execution or exoneration, while tension and conflict simmer on the streets and threaten to divide the country, families and friends.

In a statement Netflix said the series was created by Meraki Studios and explored the tenets of the Constitution - that promises an accused a fair trial and presumption of innocence in the backdrop of an unjust society, corrupt government and a disillusioned nation.

The series stars, among others, Hlomla Dandala, Morné Visser, Jack Devnarain, Pallance Dladla and Jailoshini Naidoo.

In an interview with POST, Devnarain explained how he landed the role of the senior police official.

Devnarain studied drama while completing a law degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He joined the Durban metro police after completing his studies and spent nine years on the beat, while continuing to pursue his acting career.

“I was invited to audition for a particular role. It was for the general. Initially the character was written for a black actor and I had no issue auditioning and doing a read for the role. I knew I would make it my own and I would be able to draw on my own experience from working with the police to give the role some impact. The producers felt it was an interpretation that was suitable for their story and I was pleased when they let me know that I could then proceed with that role.”

Devnarain plays General Ibrahim Hassan.

“He is a pivotal figure because he is both a senior ranking police officer as well as a political functionary within the drama that plays out. There are powerful aspects at play. We have a hostage set-up being orchestrated by a group of terrorists and then you have the police whose job it is to try to manage the situation and to resolve it, hopefully without any loss of life or damage.

“But in the mix you have characters like this, where, it becomes clear, that don’t actually know which side he is on. And that is what really sets the drama on a knife edge. It feels like you are on a runaway train to havoc.”

He said it was evident that sufficient research was done into what interventions are required of the police.

“It just adds an extra level of flavour when the performer is able to introduce certain nuances that one would normally find in an operational environment. That’s something I was able to bring in and the producers and directors were quite comfortable with that because ultimately whatever you contribute as an actor needs to fit within the context of the story as a whole.

“So whatever I was able to offer based on my personal experience within the police force, I think it was able to heighten the story and that is something that obviously they felt added value.”

He continued: “The film is definitely going to have an impact on viewers because the drama plays out in a way that reminds us of most of our own South African political history since the early ‘80s, going into the ‘90s, to the return of our democratic dispensation.

“We are reminded of the roots that our country has in political organisations and I suppose the story takes it further into creating political movements and terrorist organisations and keeping them almost under the same umbrella.

“It immediately sets up an interesting premise because out of all those political and possibly terrorist movements, you actually have the leaders who become the political fathers of the country where you are trying to create a new democracy. So in a sense we have already built into our democracy the seeds of its own destruction because your leaders are anarchists themselves.”

Devnarain believed the series will resonate with South Africans who are frustrated over issues like corruption, crime and a lack of basic services.

“I had a strong sense while reading the script and when we were shooting the story during production all those cues are quite evident. I think the audience will pick up on those themes. There are strong parallels in the series that reflect our current political realities and our current suspicion and mistrust of our political leadership, and the glaring inadequacies and inefficiencies of our government. People are, in my opinion, heading into that dangerous territory where they are feeling as if they have been cheated out of a future.

“We are absolutely feeling the effect now of an incompetent set of leaders who have desecrated the values of our Constitution. This is being manifested in things like the rolling blackouts, an inefficient police force, failing healthcare, failing infrastructure, ad helpless transport systems.

“These are manifestations of what is pretty evident and for me what is evident is that our political and our government leaders have spent nearly 30 years ensuring that their personal wealth was being supplemented but they kept losing what their primary mandate was.

“This is the kind of story that reminds us that given those kinds of circumstances, you could easily find yourself trying to snuff out the flames that have been lit buy an absolutely enraged betrayed and frustrated Republic,” said Devnarain.

The six-episode series can be streamed on Netflix.

POST