For Cantona James, the young driver Ethan he has played since the first season of Spinners is now a familiar face on screens far beyond South Africa. As the drama’s second season rolls out to audiences in more than 45 countries, the Cape Town-born actor, who earned a Best Performance award at the Dakar Series festival for his portrayal of Ethan, finds himself at the centre of a story rooted in the communities he comes from.
The eight-part second season began its international rollout on 25 October 2026, with further distribution from 26 October, reaching viewers across Africa and Europe. For the actors, writers and filmmakers behind the production, that reach means something more than a distribution milestone. It is a chance for people who have never heard of South Africa’s spinning scene to encounter it through a story told by the people who know it best.
That story is a distinctly local one. Spinners follows Ethan, a young driver trying to escape gang life through motorsport, set against the spinning culture of communities on the Cape Flats, where modified cars, driving skill and local gatherings form part of a distinctive tradition. In the new season, the action moves from Cape Town to Johannesburg. New characters arrive, and the season explores ambition, loyalty, family and the consequences of violence.
James does not carry the story alone. He is joined by returning cast members Chelsea Thomas, Dillon Windvogel, Braeden Buys, Nahum Hughes and Brendon Daniels. The second season also draws in familiar South African performers. Veteran actress Clementine Mosimane, known for her work in Soul City, joins as Ma Sithole, while Mondli Makhoba, recognised for Shaka iLembe, plays a member of the Maseko family’s security team. Luyanda Zwane takes the role of Amahle, and Aphiwe Mkefe portrays Sayi, a new rival in Johannesburg’s spinning scene. Together they form a mix of established names and emerging talent working in South Africa’s television industry.
Behind the camera, the same local expertise continues to shape the series. Director Jaco Bouwer returns for the second season, and South African filmmaker Ramadan Suleman serves as co-producer through Natives at Large, working alongside the wider international production team. The collaboration shows how locally based creative skills can contribute to productions with international distribution.
The writing, too, remains in South African hands. Matthew Jankes and Sean Steinberg return as head writers for the second season, having shaped the first, and their work on Season 1 earned a nomination in the Best Achievement in Scriptwriting category at the 18th South African Film and Television Awards. The wider writing credits include Gillian Breslin, Daniel Zimbler, Byron Abrahams and Zoë Laband. The series was co-created by Joachim Landau and Benjamin Hoffman, with Hoffman also serving as showrunner. Their work is a reminder that bringing South African stories to international audiences takes more than performances on screen; it depends on writers, researchers, producers and creative teams behind the scenes.
The international journey began well before this rollout. In 2023, Spinners became the first African television series selected for competition at Canneseries, the international television festival in France, a moment SAPeople reported on at the time as an important milestone for African television representation. The production later won Best Foreign Television Series at the Shanghai International TV Festival’s Magnolia Awards. Those achievements gave international weight to a production built on South African experiences.
According to IOL’s reporting on the rollout, the second season is being distributed across more than 45 countries, including markets in Africa and Europe, with French, Swahili and Amharic dubbing and Portuguese subtitles. Readers who want to revisit the story of the South African talent behind the series can find the original coverage at https://www.sapeople.com/entertainment/south-african-talent-spinners-45-countries/.
International distribution does not automatically guarantee commercial success or further opportunities for everyone involved. But for an industry filled with creative talent, the visibility matters. As more locally rooted stories find their way onto screens around the world, the actors, writers, filmmakers and production teams who make them possible deserve recognition for the work behind every frame. Whether this season’s reach translates into lasting opportunities for those same people remains the open question.