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Netflix subscribers may already be aware of the series Kings of Jo’Burg, which premiered on the streamer back in 2020. The show, which just aired its third season, centers on the prolific Masire family as they vie for the top position as leaders of Johannesburg, South Africa’s criminal underworld. Along the way, the family is plagued by a generational curse of supernatural beings, complicating their public and private conflicts. This Netflix original is a fully South African production, highlighting the streamer’s commitment to global filmmaking and offering a whole new world of storytelling for audiences at home. Those who have caught up on Kings of Jo’Burg’s most recent season may be left in awe and require a little help processing how things panned out. Others may simply need a quick jog of the memory in order to dive back in for season three.
Luckily, we’ve got you covered with a comprehensive guide to the plot, characters and ending of Kings of Jo’Burg. Please be advised that there are full spoilers for the Netflix original series ahead. Those looking to go in blind may want to bookmark this page and return later, though many fans consider this series in particular to be all about the journey and not the destination. This means you likely won’t find the show ruined even if you know the twists going in. Either way, be sure to read ahead if you’re still left wondering what’s next for the Masire clan.
Season one of Kings of Jo’Burg opens on the character of Mo Masire as he is released from a federal prison. After years of running the Johannesburg criminal underworld alongside his brother, Simon, Mo took the fall for an armed robbery charge to free his wife and son from the burden of the outlaw lifestyle. As he is released, Mo learns that his wife Angela decided to go the other way, and remain involved with the criminal hierarchy by marrying Simon. To further complicate things, Mo discovers that he has a daughter whom Angela hid from him, and that his son has grown up to be a drug addict who works for one of Simon’s crews.
Frustrated with his life’s direction, Mo resolves to stay legit and begins a romance with a young woman who works at an auto repair shop. Unfortunately, he is shot by a would-be assassin, and immediately gets back into the game in order to figure out who’s after him. Mo partners up with his brother to track down the shooter. At this point, we learn the supernatural backstory behind the Masire family’s criminal enterprise. Apparently, Simon is carrying the spirit of a mystical mermaid, allowing him to tap into otherworldly strength, agility and power. The mermaid spirit was passed down by Mo and Simon’s mother, who struggled with trauma and mental illness her whole life. In order to keep the spirit content, Simon must routinely offer human sacrifices to her, though she continually demands sacrifices with direct blood relationships to him.
As Kings of Jo’Burg carries on, we learn that Mo was attacked by his own protege, Sting. One of Simon’s high-ranking generals instructed this young man to take Mo out, as he feared he would lose his position now that the boss’ brother was back in the picture. Ironically, Mo re-enters the game by killing this man in cold blood as his first criminal act. Now firmly back in the world of crime, Mo attempts to work out his differences with Simon. The pair has a good relationship, though Mo carries resentment that Simon married his ex-wife and failed to guide his son away from their lifestyle. Mo’s son, Tlotlo, is a constant thorn in Simon’s side, always bringing unnecessary heat to the family business by doing drugs and running illegal gambling tournaments.
To make matters worse, Simon is revealed to have another family on the side, including a teenage child. He and Tlotlo continue bumping heads when the latter’s girlfriend is kidnapped by a rival gang leader, and used to lure the Masires into an ambush. The gang manages to come out on top thanks to Simon’s mermaid abilities, though Tlotlo is injured in the skirmish. As Tlotlo recovers, the mermaid pressures Simon to sacrifice his soul to strengthen his powers. He strongly considers it, but ultimately resists. Meanwhile, we learn that Mo’s new girlfriend is not who she says she is. Apparently, she is a South African special forces agent named Phumzi, who has a long history of putting organized criminals behind bars. She orchestrated their entire initial meeting and romance in order to ensnare him in a trap.
Mo proposes to Phumzi, and she refuses without giving a reason. Though her initial interest in him was wrought from her desire to put him back in prison, it seems as though she has truly fallen for Mo, complicating the situation. Before the couple can discuss the nature of their relationship, Phumzi’s home is attacked by another gang leader whom she previously put behind bars. Mo manages to shoot the man, but he reveals Phumzi’s true identity before he dies. Furious and heartbroken, Mo confronts Phumzi, and she admits that she is pregnant with his child. While Mo struggles to process this, he gets a call from Simon, who reveals that he, too, has been targeted by the FBI. A mercenary working for the United States government has kidnapped Simon’s second family and is holding them hostage near a cargo port.
Despite all of the complications surrounding his family life, Mo rushes to meet up with Simon, leaving Phumzi on the back burner. By the time he gets there, however, Simon’s wife and son have already been harmed, and Simon has been beaten bloody. In a last-ditch effort to save himself, Simon taps into the mermaid spirit for strength. Unfortunately, the spirit demands a blood sacrifice, forcing Simon to kill his own son to save himself. Mo sees this play out and is absolutely disgusted. Not only does the scene bring back traumatic memories of their mentally ill mother, but it also displays the depths of selfishness that Simon would go to in order to save himself. The final moments of Kings of Jo’Burg season one see Mo tragically shooting Simon to death, in a move which Mo thinks will free him and his family from the mermaid once and for all.
As season two of Kings of Jo’Burg kicks off, the Masire family is under attack from all angles. Simon’s death has left their organization rudderless, and everyone from rival gangs to federal agents seem to be closing in. To make matters worse, Mo learns that killing Simon did not destroy the mermaid spirit at all. In fact, doing so caused the spirit to latch onto him instead, making him the unwilling conduit for his family’s generational trauma. Despite all of this turmoil – or perhaps because of it – Mo resolves once more to leave his life of crime behind, even forgiving Phumzi for working against him. The two get married after all, though their wedding isn’t without controversy. During the reception, an old associate of Simon demands that Mo keep pace with Simon’s heist plans. He threatens that he’ll attack Mo’s family if he refuses.
Simon’s twin sister, Veronica, is also in attendance at Mo’s wedding, which is a shock considering she has been absent from the Masire family for over 20 years. Mo is resentful of Veronica because he feels that she got off easy, having missed out on the hardships of building their family empire. Veronica feels differently, however, since she suffered the most under the yoke of their abusive mother and was effectively abandoned in her youth. The only member of the Masire clan who remained close with Veronica over the years was her uncle Taledi, who is secretly working against the rest of the family, along with a coalition of crooked cops and rival gangsters. Meanwhile, Angela searches for answers regarding Simon’s mysterious death and begins to suspect that Mo took him out.
Veronica rises through the ranks as the second season of Kings of Jo’Burg progresses and establishes herself as the opposition leader. Before long, she finds herself in charge of a rival gang and demands Mo give up the gold from the Masire’s most recent heist. When Mo refuses, she threatens to harm Phumzi and Mo’s newborn, prompting Mo to reveal his mermaid spirit powers. Phumzi is perturbed by these powers and wonders how this generational curse will impact her child, though she ultimately stays with Mo. Angela also learns that Mo has taken on the mystic powers, revealing that he was, in fact, responsible for killing Simon. He explains his reasoning, and Angela accepts the situation. She explains that she knew about the mermaid curse and feared for her life and her children’s lives while living with Simon.
As this plays out, significant infighting plagues Veronica’s coalition, with each of her key players revealing their own singular motives. Mo even manages to secure an audio recording of Taledi and his men scheming behind her back, prompting her to shoot her beloved uncle to death. Upon doing so, Veronica is nearly arrested by one of her own crooked cops. However, the party is broken up when the officer’s partner shows up and reveals that she’s been watching the entire criminal conspiracy play out. With a circle of criminals, many guns drawn and a dead man on the floor, Mo ultimately agrees to take the fall. In a surprising foil to the series premiere, Mo is arrested and sent to jail for the crimes of his elder sibling. In Mo’s stead, Veronica takes over the Masire empire and becomes the new host of the mermaid spirit.
Leaping five years into the future, Kings of Jo’Burg season three reveals that Angela and Phumzi have continued raising Mo’s child together. Unfortunately, the child’s eyes begin to glow, revealing that he, too, is impacted by the mermaid’s curse. As Mo serves his prison bid, Veronica goes to war with a notorious drug lord named Gavin Salat, who has ties to a number of criminal organizations all over Africa. It is also revealed that Veronica is pregnant with a child of her own and is looking to purge her soul of the mermaid spirit before her due date to save her offspring from the same fate as the rest of the Masires. Towards the end of the season, Mo has broken free from prison and returned to save his family – no matter how dysfunctional he finds them.
Something about Mo’s journey over the past two seasons has changed him. He seems to accept that his days are numbered and seeks to make the most of his life by fighting for his family at all costs. This is likely due to the spread of the mermaid curse. In a tragic turn of events, Mo’s son Tlotlo also winds up falling victim as he is killed by Gavin’s men in retaliation for a series of gang slayings. Utilizing the mermaid powers, Mo ambushes Gavin’s crew during a crucial drug deal and wipes out most of them in a gunfight. Gavin runs for it and manages to escape Mo’s wrath, only to be gunned down by his own allies for blowing up the deal.
Throughout Kings of Jo’Burg‘s third season, Mo struggles to come to terms with his curse and even seeks the help of a mystic priestess, who fills him in with some crucial information regarding the origins of the mermaid. Apparently, the creature was initially uprooted from her home by a demon named Oom. Over the years, the mermaid has wreaked havoc on Johannesburg while using the Masires as conduits, and now it seems that Oom has embedded himself into the spirit of Gavin. As soon as Gavin dies, the mermaid sees an opportunity to destroy her foe once and for all and return to the depths from whence she came. Unfortunately, doing so means dragging Mo hundreds of leagues beneath the sea. In the end, the mermaid manages to vanquish Oom and reclaim her homeland. She tries to return Mo to the surface, but it’s far too late.
Having died at the hands of the familial curse, Mo is buried beside his brother. He seems content in his final moments, believing that his sacrifice is being made to protect the few family members he has left. Unfortunately, his sacrifice may have been for nothing. Shortly after Mo is laid to rest, Veronica enjoys her life as a new mother, holding her baby alongside her partner, Isador. The serene scene is shattered when mercenaries shoot their way into the villa and gun down the parents in cold blood. Just before she is killed, Veronica manages to lock her baby in a sealed-off safe room, leaving her as the only survivor in this twisted massacre. We never get to see for sure who is behind this attack, though we can surmise that these villains will be a main focus of Kings of Jo’Burg season four, if the series continues.
With three of the four Masire siblings gone, only the youngest child, Keneilwe, remains alive at the end of Kings of Jo’Burg season three. Since Keneilwe isn’t involved in the Masire criminal enterprise, we don’t spend much time with her in the show. At the end of the third season, she is preparing to board a flight to the United States, with dreams of leaving her chaotic family behind for good. Unfortunately, her travel plans are halted when she learns that both of her older siblings have died in horrific fashion. The police notify her that her newborn niece is alive and well at the scene of Veronica’s murder, and Keneilwe heads straight to the villa to retrieve the baby. When she arrives, she is dismayed to see that the child’s eyes glow with the same aquatic blue as all of the Masire kids afflicted with the mermaid curse.
Even after all of Mo and the others’ sacrifices, it looks like the family still isn’t safe from this generational trauma. With a baby to take care of and her prospects of independence seemingly dashed, it seems like Keneilwe will be doomed to stay in Johannesburg and face her familial demons head-on. Will she eventually pick up the mantle left behind by her siblings and fill the power vacuum in Jo’Burg’s criminal underworld as well? For now, only time will tell.
Who is the main character in Kings of Jo’Burg?
Kings of Jo’Burg is an odd show in that the status of the main character often changes hands throughout the narrative. Most viewers would probably argue that Mo Masire is the main character, though it can be argued that he takes a back seat to Simon in season one. Kings of Jo’Burg is similar to shows like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones in so much as the writers are not afraid to kill off main characters at every turn. If the series continues for a fourth season and beyond, it’s likely that Keneilwe will become the new main character, even though fans haven’t spent much time with her yet.
Where can I watch season two of Kings of Jo’Burg?
Kings of Jo’Burg is currently streaming in its entirety on Netflix. Those looking to catch up on the show with a quick binge session or show it to friends for the first time should have no trouble locating it in the streamer’s library.
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