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  Dingaan Botha
Dingaan 5x10 Cropped
Actor Treva Etienne
Seasons Season 4
Season 5
First Appearance Ghost in the Machine
Last Appearance Reborn

Allegiance 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment
Origin Johannesburg, South Africa
Age Mid 40's
Occupation Electrical lineman (Pre-Invasion)
Family Adeleke - Wife †
Idrissa - Son †
Status Alive
"We wouldn't be stuck if you hadn't run directly in the very thing I told you to run away from. Do you always go stampeding towards things when you have no idea what the risk is?"
—Dingaan to John Pope.[src]

Dingaan Botha is a recurring character in the fourth and fifth seasons. Dingaan is a South African man, that was living in the South Carolina Espheni Ghetto until he escaped. Dingaan is the first accounted man to escape a ghetto, until he helped the entire Charleston ghetto escape.

Pre-Invasion[]

Johannesburg, South Africa[]

Dingaan originally lived in Johannesburg, South Africa with his wife Idrissa and son Adeleke working as a power lineman. Dingaan mentions he lost his wife and son during the invasion however this was a lie and when Dingaan was digging a pool for the family he briefly left to answer a phone call, and his son fell in the pit. Before he could be reached, the hole caved in on his son and buried him alive. When his son was dug up, he was still alive and Dingaan accompanied him to the hospital in the ambulance. However, his son died on the way and the sound of the heart monitor always haunted him. After his wife found out, she drank herself to death. As a result of his son's death by being buried alive, Dingaan developed a fear of facing the same fate which he believed would be karma.

Port Elizabeth[]

Before being married, Dingaan always wanted to be a surfing instructor like his friends, but wound up taking tourists fishing on Sardinia Bay, and once this girl visiting from Great Britain was on the boat, a few years older than him, and had no idea what she was doing. She couldn't even cast a line, and Dingaan taught her, and after she caught a baby shark, but the line snapped. Dingaan mentions that he would like to know what would happen if he told her he loved her laugh.

United States[]

Dingaan later moved to the United States hoping for a new start after his wife and son's death. Dingaan mentions having 13 registered hours as a pilot. Dingaan has showed that he can also speak five different languages, including French, German, Swahili and Afrikaans

Story[]

Post-Invasion[]

When the Espheni started setting up the Ghettos, he found ways to escape from them, including Greensboro, Charlotte and Richmond. However, when he managed to escape, a Black Hornet found him and took him to the next Ghetto.

"Ghost in the Machine"[]

Four months after the 2nd Mass was attacked, he observed Tector Murphy and Hal Mason standing up to John Pope who had begun hoarding all the food. Dingaan admired this and decided to help them escape, he met with them one night and told them of his success with escaping the ghettos. He told them their first problem would be taking down the fence.

"The Eye"[]

Dingaan put his knowledge of electricity to use and built a faraday suit for Tom so that they could get through the laser fence. He later meets with Tom for the first time, and tells him that his wife and son were killed when the invasion started.

"Exodus"[]

At the laser fence, Tom lectures Dingaan on a history lesson about the Mexican army and that Tom is going to use their strategy to ambush the Skitters. Dingaan tells Tom that he should just stay hole up here, but is told that they were going to be mutated soon. While getting ready to put the faraday suit on, a piece of metal falls off the building and breaks Dingaan's hand, Weaver volunteers to go in the faraday suit, but is told he can't by Pope because of his heart condition; Pope tells Dingaan that he will wear the suit, and then is informed on how to plant the bomb. He witnesses Pope climbing the wall and dropping the bag of C4. When the fence is down, he cheers and escapes the ghetto camp.

"Evolve or Die"[]

When the former Ghetto Captives take base in a Volm shelter, Dingaan informs Hal that he has a repeating signal on the radio, which is in fact Lourdes informing everyone about Chinatown. Later, during the night he speaks with Hal about lacrosse and rugby. 

"Mind Wars"[]

Dingaan and Pope scout some of the routes for a way to Chinatown. Dingaan and Pope are spotted by Mechs and barley made it out alive. They reach Hal, and tells them which route on the map they cannot take, and Dingaan mentions that they are trapped and it's only a matter of time. After Shaq informs them that they need a power source to track the Espheni movement, as they cannot use there own recon drones, Hal creates a plan to capture a Mega-Mech. Tector ties a rope to a tree trunk, that crosses over a road to another tree trunk, and when a Mega-Mech comes close to the rope, Dingaan and Tector pull the rope tightly, but the plan failed as the Mech noticed he rope. When the Mech faces Dingaan and the group, Pope drives his pickup truck into the Mech, causing it to fall to the floor and getting the new power source. When they find a new route to Chinatown, when they get close, Hal and Dingaan walk on a hill, and witness the outskirts of Chinatown, and in response Dingaan says there might actually be a safe-zone.

"Door Number Three"[]

Dingaan scouts the Chinatown outskirts with the Volm and Hal. While walking, Hal notices something on the moon, and tells Dingaan to look up however does not see anything. They are soon approached by two armed fighters, and Dingaan points his shotgun at them. When Tom and Weaver arrive, they are welcomed into Chinatown, and Dingaan inside, hands a female a wrapped mint. Later, Hal asks whose side does he agree with, but does not answer saying he is an expert on fixing things not on families, people and cocoons. When Hal replies that there are no experts, Shaq interrupts and tells them about the Volm's experience with cocoons and the hatchlings. Later, Dingaan tries to storm the courtyard with Pope, Hal, Maggie, Zack, Niko and most of the 2nd Mass to kill Alexis, however is stopped by the believers of Lexi, and Hal. Dingaan is told to stand guard and not let anyone in to the area were Lexi is cocooned by Hal.

"Saturday Night Massacre"[]

When preparing for the Espheni attack, Dingaan Botha recruits Denny to accompany him on the scouting mission to find out when the Espheni troops are near. Dingaan and Denny talk about music, but soon are cut off by the sound of the Espheni troops. The two run through the streets, and when Dingaan finds Chinatown residents sitting in the streets he tries to move them, however only convinces two to go back with them as the others believe that the Espheni will not hurt them. Dingaan and Denny soon alert Maggie and Hal that the troops are arriving, and they cover behind a barricade. When the Mega-Mechs are taken out, Dingaan runs back to the centre of Chinatown. When Dingaan and Denny are running through the street, the broken gas line creates a chain of explosions killing many fighters, and Denny jumps in front of Dingaan to protect him. Denny injures her leg during the explosion, and Dingaan carries her back to the centre of Chinatown. Dingaan asks how to stop the bleeding, however her spikes give her the ability to heal, and Denny remarks that Dingaan ruined her favorite pair of jeans. Dingaan covers the remaining survivors they hide in the fallout shelter, Hal asks Dingaan if Maggie is inside, however Dingaan does not know. He is last seen, having stayed outside, guarding the exit.

"A Thing With Feathers"[]

Tom finds Dingaan buried with him and trapped under a slab. Together, they manage to free Dingaan who panics at being buried alive. Searching for a way out, they find the Beamer Cochise shot down and manage to find a way inside. While exploring, Tom touches a wall and a spike enters his arm. Dingaan cuts it out, but in the process, triggers the Beamer's weapon systems. Dingaan freaks out again at the countdown until Tom gets him under the Beamer and into the ruins surrounding it in hopes of shielding themselves from the blast. Dingaan explains what really happened to his family to Tom who comforts him, telling him that he turned his back on his son for a second and all parents do that. Dingaan also explains his panic from the beeping is from the fact that that's the last thing he heard as his son died: the beeping of his heart monitor as he flatlined. The Beamer's missile fires, but instead of killing them, it blows a hole in the debris and draws Matt and Weaver's attention. Before the two find them, Dingaan sees a brief vision of his wife and son smiling at him. Dingaan and Tom are then rescued by the 2nd Mass.

"Til Death Do Us Part"[]

Dingaan helps Shaq fix the unearthed Beamer. When told to, he pulls out a wire from inside the Beamer to try and control it, but cannot. Later, he is handed Mira's whistle, as Tom mentions that it can call Beamers, and later raises the Beamer by blowing on the whistle.

"Drawing Straws"[]

In the Beamer, Dingaan tries to find the steering mechanism, but fails to do so, and is soon informed by Cochise that since the beamers are remote controlled, they should be looking for a different way to control it. Outside, a swarm of beamers can be seen following the homing beacon to the moon base. Cochise says he wants to use the subspace communicator to mimic the homing beacon and control the beamer into flying to the beacon. However, provided Dingaan can locate the steering wheel they could hitch a ride to the moon. Inside the beamer, Matt presses a set of glowing dots in the stair that brings up a column of ligaments and he randomly pulls at two of the ligaments, which successfully tilts the beamer on its wing. Dingaan and the others rush in, and Dingaan and Cochise ask Matt and study the mechanics of it. Later, Tom tells the 2nd Mass that he will be flying the Beamer to the moon, however the 2nd Mass disagree, and come up with the idea to draw straws, which Tom disagrees with saying that the best man should fly it. After Pope asks Tom why he thinks he is the best man, Dingaan interrupts saying that he’s logged 13 hours as a pilot, and they agree to draw names out of hollowed out log. After Tom and Ben have been drawn to fly the Beamer, Dingaan shakes Tom's hand as he prepares to leave, and as Tom and Ben go inside the Beamer, Dingaan yells out that something is coming, and the 2nd Mass watch as Beamers fly over, and are randomly destroyed during flight; and soon after watches as Lexi walks through Chinatown to Tom.

"Space Oddity"[]

Dingaan appears in the dream which is implanted into Tom Mason's head.

"Shoot the Moon"[]

Dingaan is on a recon mission with a team consisting of Denny, Dick and many others. Dingaan recalls that during the mission, he sent Dick and Denny off, and it soon got quiet. Dingaan worked out that it was quiet because everyone was gone, and when he found them they were all stuck to the ground, as of a portable harness farm landing. The team calls for Dinagaan's help, and he tried to pull on fighter up, however a harness injects black fluid into the soldier. Dingaan mentions that the way the fighter looked at him after was like a animal stalking his prey. Dingaan runs off as the team screams for his help.

Back at Chinatown, another portable harness farm lands. John Pope goes to investigate and Dingaan tried to pull him back. The fog starts to spread and Dingaan and Pope create a tower of pallets to keep them from getting stuck. On top, the two quickly loose their balance and fall onto the ground, now stuck. Dingaan quotes to Pope while on the ground stuck, "We wouldn't be stuck, if you hadn't run directly in the very thing I told you to run away from. Do you always go stampeding towards things when you have no idea what the risk is?" A harness plants himself ontop of Dingaan, and when it's about to plant himself, Pope bits the cord that connects the black fluid to the harness, killing it. Dingaan and Pope are later saved by Sara.

"Find Your Warrior"[]

Dingaan listens's to Anne's speech about finishing the war. After Tom Mason arrives back, he listens to his motivation speech about getting mad, and now is the time for overkill to finish the war. Dingaan joins Daniel Weaver's team, where they find four mega-mechs, however they are out of juice. Dingaan and John Pope strip the guns off one of them, then go to help Tom Mason's team. Dingaan joins the mission to find the Overlord at the high school, and when they get to the gym the skitters are all hiding under the bleachers, and Dingaan is brought to fire the mega-mech weapon at them. After, he attends Denny's funeral.

"Hunger Pains"[]

Dingaan defends Chinatown from the herd of skitters, using the mega-mech arms gun. Later, Dingaan is trying to work on a droid controlled by a remote, to get past the hunger, but cannot make it stay in the air long enough. He speaks with Matt Mason who is also in the room, and after Evelyn grabs blankets tells him that he found her roaming in Statesboro before the human skitterization began. Dingaan later tells Matt the story of a girl from England he met before the invasion, and he wishes he could've told her that he loved her laugh before she left. After the team arrives back with a truck of food, they get stuck on the pile of skitter bodies, and Dingaan, who got the droid to work flies to over to the truck, and it emits a sonic blast that takes out the skitters.

"Hatchlings"[]

Dingaan brings his droid to the field after it was reported that large forced of skitters and black hornets were all gathered. Dingaan has made modifications to it, and flies it over the field. On Tom's order, he releases a poison that slowly kills all of the Espheni forces gathered. Dingaan Botha is later accompanied by Matt Mason as he finishes off the rest of the skitters and hornets in the crop field.

"Pope Breaks Bad"[]

Dingaan looks over the image of the Earth with the Volm tech, and Shaq provides insight of what places are being jammed, including DC, Moscow and Tokyo. Dingaan tries to spin the globe but Shaq moves his hands off it. Dingaan goes to scavenge supplies at the nearby police station, and finds an untouched communications truck, where he connects the radio and begins to speak the five languages he knows to try and contact anyone. Dingaan makes contact with a Professor Cecily in Inca, Peru. Her connection cuts out while speaking, and soon after Ryan releases the alien bugs which devours him in seconds, and forces Dingaan and Matt Mason to shelter in the truck. After the bugs are disabled, they travel back to Chinatown.

"Respite"[]

Dingaan is present when Cochise informs the 2nd Mass' trusted fighters about the Shadow Plane, after Marty discovers it at the distillery in the storage area.

"Everybody Has Their Reasons"[]

Dingaan and Cochise stay at the whiskey distillery to try and remove the Shadow Plane. Cochise pits an idea to use levers to try and remove it, however Dingaan wants to do it easier, spits on his hands and grabs the Shadow Plane hub, attempting to pull it from the source. Dingaan fails, and as Cochise pulls him off, the building nearly collapses from the energy being released from the hub. Cochise and Dingaan attempt to pull it out. Dingaan requests the help from two fighters that stayed back as reinforcements. Dingaan and one fighter pulls the Shadow Plane up, and the other fighter is going to place the mech pod underneath. Dingaan again passes out, and when he wakes the Shadow Plane is in a crate, successfully removed. Dingaan cheers and tries to high-five Cochise, who flinches as Dingaan raises his hand.

"Stalag 14th Virginia"[]

Dingaan arrives at the naval base after Matthew Mason arrives to the whiskey distillery to inform them that the 14th Virginia have taken the entire 2nd Mass prisoner. Dingaan is stationed on top a roof with a rifle, protecting the 2nd Mass and Masons.

"Reunion"[]

Dingaan continues to try and make contact with Mason militias to prepare for their last stand in DC. Dingaan communicates with a lone woman who is being attacked by skitters. Dingaan tries to talk her through how to hide, however the skitters are heard over the radio breaking through the barricade and the communication cuts off with her last heard screaming. Dingaan later makes communication with a militia, who have lost a dozen men by skitters. While they arrive at the naval base with bandages showing their wounds, Dingaan tells Tom Mason and Daniel Weaver they have been off the grid with no radio. They group soon takes off their disguises and reveal themselves to be John Pope's group, who attack the 2nd Mass and 14th Virginia. Dingaan engages in the fight, and the fight is quickly ended when Tom and Weaver shoots barrels which explode and collapse a building onto the group.

"Reborn"[]

Dingaan informs Tom Mason that a militia leader currently at DC has information for him. The militia leader says the Espheni have built a wall around DC. Tom decides to use service tunnels to sneak a strike team into the city rather than a full-out assault on the Lincoln Memorial. Dingaan joins the strike team, and takes cover when Lt. Demarcus Wolf shoots an explosive at a nest of baby Overlords. As the group is trapped, Tom continues on his mission to kill the Espheni Queen. Dingaan is present when Anne Mason dies, after being hit by shrapnel. Dingaan watches as Tom arrives, then takes Anne off to be resurrected by the Dornia. As Tom killed the Queen before arriving, all Espheni forces are destroyed.

Months after the war, Dingaan attends the ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. Dingaan and Anthony are both seen in military uniform, and they greet Daniel Weaver. Dingaan along with the rest of the survivors listen to Tom's speech about the war.

Appearances[]

Season 4 appearances
Ghost in the Machine The Eye Exodus Evolve or Die Mind Wars Door Number Three
Saturday Night Massacre A Thing With Feathers Til Death Do Us Part Drawing Straws Space Oddity Shoot the Moon
Season 5 appearances
Find Your Warrior Hunger Pains Hatchlings Pope Breaks Bad Non-Essential Personnel
Respite Everybody Has Their Reasons Stalag 14th Virginia Reunion Reborn

Quotes[]

  • "You are not the one wearing a homemade trash can for protection, my friend." - Exodus
  • "Sometimes an infantry man has to make the hard call of a general." - Season 4
  • Dingaan: "I just don’t like the idea of being buried!"

Trivia[]

  • Dingaan is a fan of rugby and once played on a rugby team.
  • Dingaan is afraid of being buried alive as his son died that way. He also has a fear of heart monitor like noises as he listened to his son flatline in an ambulance and noises like that remind him of his son's death.

Gallery[]

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