David James is a South African film, theatre and television actor known mainly for playing the villainous Koobus Venter in the Oscar-nominated science fiction film District 9. He is also known to South African audiences for his 2004-2006 appearance as "Mad Dog" on the long-running soap opera Isidingo, for his portrayal as Joel Joffe in the large-scale and well-received 2010 and 2011 stage productions of Rivonia Trial, and for his role as radio station manager Hermanus Meyer on the soap opera Rhythm City.