Michelle Botes’ final work on Afrikaans series set for release on Netflix [VIDEO]

In her last work, which will be released on Netflix at the end of February, the late Michelle Botes portrays the character of a caring mother.

“That was the last show she recorded, it was shot around March last year,” Suzi Howes of Oh! Talent Management, which was Botes’ management company, told The Citizen.

Botes is part of the cast of seven-episode Afrikaans series, Tuiskoms.

Botes, who died just four days before Christmas in 2024, etched her memory on South African television through her gripping portrayal of villain Cherel de Villiers on Isidingo.

Howes said Botes took up some TV ad work during the year, but Tuiskoms was the last series she worked on.

“It was the last TV series. She may have done other work; I did manage to book her for a TV commercial.”

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Botes’ last work

Tuiskoms follows the life of a widowed chef who loses her restaurant and house overnight. She must return to her mother’s home in Wilderness with her daughter.

Through the town, its people and a flower shop, she starts a new journey that ultimately sets her free from her husband’s death and brings her to love again.

On Tuiskoms, Botes plays the role of the main character’s mother. Amalia Uys portrays Fleur in the leading role.

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Shooting Tuiskoms through sickness

Just a few weeks before her passing, the late 63-year-old thespian revealed that she had been battling myeloma, a cancer that affects the bone marrow, for the past two and a half years.

After initially undergoing chemotherapy, she decided to stop the treatment.

“I didn’t see a chance to feel so terribly bad again and not be myself,” she told Bruis Magazine.

Botes had just come through a bad stage of her illness when she shot Tuiskom.

“She was still recovering; she wasn’t a hundred percent. But she didn’t like speaking about her illness,” said Howes.

“I think there were some scenes where she had to do some horse riding, she had to be careful. But she was an incredible, dedicated, hardworking actor.”

Howes said Botes was doing well throughout 2024. “She was fine last year, she took a bad turn again at the end of the year,” shared Howes.

Louis Pretorius, Sandra Vaugh, and Rosalind Butler created and wrote the series, which is directed by Nina Swart.

In its cast, the romantic comedy boasts some of South Africa’s most beloved Afrikaans actors, including Dawid Minnaar, Marvin-Lee Beukes, Edwin van der Walt, and the esteemed Pierre van Pletzen.

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