by Thinus Ferreira
Almost a year after MultiChoice and M-Net were castigated for the shocking lack of South African diversity and representation in its Love Island SA reality show version, the pay-TV operator is once again coming under fire from DStv subscribers criticising the latest season of Big Brother Mzansi for its lack of diversity.
After the 5th season of Big Brother Mzansi started on Sunday night as a MultiChoice pop-up channel on DStv with 18 new housemates - one of whom quit three days later on Wednesday - DStv subscribers want to know why the reality show's cast excluded South Africans from other races and why it's a predominantly Gauteng-based cast.
Big Brother Mzansi, revived as a Covid-19 safe show and produced inside a so-called "Covid-19 safe production bubble", is done by Red Pepper Productions as a South African adaptation of the Banijay format with Dineo Phantshang as series producer, OJ Meketsi as series director, Gbenga Kayode as consulting series director, Jessica Setati as production manager, and with Cecil Barry and Natalie Bleksley as the co-executive producers.
After MultiChoice and M-Net came under severe criticism for its botched Love Island SA version last year, sponsor LottoStar withdrew, with the pay-TV operator that apologised.
MultiChoice and M-Net said "You called us out on the lack of diversity and production quality" and that it's "working hard to fix things and to deliver the Magic you deserve" after not meeting its "our usual standard on both counts".
A year later DStv subscribers are once again criticising a format reality show for its production values after Big Brother Mzansi, once again sponsored by LottoStar, suffered sound problems and audio mistakes, while the producers excluded coloured, white, Indian and other races from the all-black cast.
Out of the 18 housemates who entered the Big Brother Mzansi house and chosen from over 9 000 entries received, the majority have been picked from Johannesburg with only 4 coming from provinces outside of Gauteng and the majority of provinces excluded.
Comments from DStv viewers range from: "I thought I'll see different races, tribes and religions to make the game more open and entertaining" to "Where are the other ethnicities? Where are other provinces? Where are coloured people and the other races? It seems like Big Brother Mzansi said 'Diversity? We don't know her!" and "For a rainbow nation this is disappointing diversity wise".
"Where are the white and coloured housemates? Where's the diversity?" asked Chazz on Twitter, with Shakes saying "Representation is very important and Big Brother Mzansi has failed to show the true diversity of South Africa here."
"This season lacks diversity where are people from the Eastern Cape or Northern Cape? Did coloured people and Indians not audition?"
In a media query earlier this week MultiChoice was asked for comment specifically about the lack of diversity in race in the included contestants and why coloured, white and Indian people were excluded in the casting process; as well as whether Covid-19 played a role in the lack of diversity in the concentration of the majority of contestants being from Johannesburg and Pretoria.
MultiChoice didn't answer the individual questions to explain the specific concerns but in a statement says the housemates are originally from many places around South Africa and that Mzansi Magic prides itself on reflecting diversity.
Shirley Adonisi, M-Net director of local entertainment channels, says "As Mzansi Magic, we pride ourselves in reflecting our audiences' diversity whether
it be their race, culture, language, religion, creed and gender orientation".
"The selection of housemates for Big Brother was no different. Out of the
thousands of entries we received, each candidate had to pass through a mix of
milestones including psychometric tests, medicals and background
checks."
"The
aim being to create an ensemble of housemates that were diverse in age,
archetype, personality traits, whose combination would give us the best
entertainment value for the show."
"Entries were open to all South Africans
via an online process and a subsequent audition process. The final choice
for this season's housemates reside or are
originally from many places around the country and we are confident that our
audience will find them relatable, authentic and entertaining."
Big Brother Mzansi runs daily and weekly highlight shows on the Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and as a 24-hour pop-up channel on MultiChoice's DStv channel 198 until the winner is announced during a 2-hour live finale on Sunday 3 April at 18:00.
