South Africa is officially getting its own version of The Office, and it’s called Die Kantoor…
South Africa (25 November 2025) – The South African adaptation of one of the world’s most popular mockumentary sitcoms is coming to kykNET and Showmax in January.
The original series, first created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in the UK, became one of the most influential comedies ever made. The US version took it even further, winning Emmys and becoming the most-streamed show in the world during 2020.
Most people know those two.
What many don’t realise, though, is just how far the mockumentary has travelled.
The Office keeps finding new homes, and South Africa will now be number 14 on the list of official adaptations. Australia, France, Canada, Chile, Israel, India, the Middle East, and Poland all have their own versions.
And now, South Africans get Die Kantoor.
SAFTA and Silwerskerm winner Bennie Fourie is the head writer and director. He’s the co-creator of SAFTA Best TV Comedy winner Hotel and plays Baltus in the award-winning mockumentary Magda Louw.
Fourie has made it clear that he’s not just translating The Office into Afrikaans to remake it shot-by-shot with local actors. He’s reimagined it from the ground up.
“South Africa is not the UK and it’s not the US, and we really wanted to reflect that,” he says.
This started by changing the office setting from a paper company to Deluxe Processed Meats, which specialises in polony. Only South Africans could take a workplace mockumentary and set it at a company that specialises in polony.
LOL.
“South Africa is a proud meat-consuming nation,” says Bennie. “From biltong to droëwors to steak, many South Africans find some of our identity in the meat we eat. But polony is not on that list. It’s just so flippen pink. When you’re standing around a braai, the last thing you want to say is that you are passionate about polony. Especially after that Listeriosis outbreak.”
In Die Kantoor, the staff at Deluxe Processed Meats aren’t exactly living their best lives. Head office looks down on them, and no one feels secure in their roles after a BBBEE business consortium buys a large part of the company.
The cast is a highlight.
Leading the team is Albert Pretorius, fresh from a 2025 Fleur du Cap Theatre Award win, who plays the office manager, Flip. Flip has only been in charge for about a year, but he’s already convinced that letting a documentary crew film him is his version of Chasing the Sun.
Bennie jokes:
“He feels like this is his Chasing the Sun; like his rise to greatness needs to be recorded.”
Joining Pretorius on screen is local comedian and actor Schalk Bezuidenhout (Tjaart), SA’s renowned Lida Botha (Tannie Miems), as well as Carl Beukes (Kayle), Ilse Oppelt (Jo-Anne), Daniah de Villiers (Emma), Mehboob Bawa (Bhai), Sipumziwe Lucwaba (Nqobani) and Gert du Plessis (Joubert).
Die Kantoor premieres with an episode on kykNET on Sunday, 18 January 2026, followed by a double-episode drop on Showmax on 20 January. Until then, you can rewatch The Office (US) S1–9 on Showmax.
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