AN APPRECIATION: Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu - From construction company receptionist to talker and what her TV triumph really means to us.

She's ending it. But please - please - don't think of Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu ending the long-running SABC3 weekday talk show Three Talk with Noeleen as a sad story, or a TV story, or a fluff, superficial celebrity story.

With Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu who announced yesterday live on South African TV's longest-running and only hour long local, daily talk show that she's ending it after 12 years on 20 April, you can think of it as a triumph. For all of us.

Think of it as a great South African story. A great success story. A great Eastern Cape success story. A great example for women, for black women, for working moms; for local television.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu is an example for all of us in South Africa that even if you're a receptionist at a construction company answering phones in one of the poorest provinces in the country, that you can go forward in life, grow; be successful and end up on television as a talk show host.

Here's what they won't say and what we don't actually realise: That currently Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu is in terms of TV lifespan the longest serving, longest uninterrupted female presenter of the same show on South African television.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu's 12 years on South African television as the face of 3Talk is only surpassed in years by Derek Watts on M-Net's Carte Blanche (who doesn't and never carried the whole hour long show on his own, talking for 42 minutes) and in hours by Leanne Manas of SABC2's Morning Live who's done it for 10 years but on a show that's 2 hours long daily (although the bulk of that period was with a co-host, Vuyo Mbuli).

Take that Felicia, Dali, Masechaba, Penny and the string of South Africans who've had TV talkers: Nobody has talked more in sheer thousands of hours logged minutes by minute over years than Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu.

The celebu-buzz bubbled up when word spread last year that e.tv and eKasi+'s Khanyi Mbau (no shade; I like her and she does great work as a TV talker) surpassed Noeleen to become the most watched South African TV talk show. Uhm, no.

You can't compare a one day or two days a week talk show's ratings with one that's on five days a week. Which is better: The soccer player who consistently scores one goal every Sunday in one match or the one who consistently scores one goal daily five days a week in a match per day?

Quintuple Three Talk with Noeleen's audience (a dedicated audience who got the chance to call in and engage with the show in what is largely a live show - two major differentiators stretching over years from any of the pre-recorded others) and you discover the real numbers and influence of not only what Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu did, but why its actually the real undisputed most watched local TV talk show on South African television.

The legacy of 3Talk and Noeleen Maholwana-Sangu will not be that it was necessarily a great show. Or that it was a bad show. It was a dynamic talk show with and about people.

Just ike people, Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu and her guests and her production crew at Urban Brew had good days and bad days, just like every one of us. It's life and the show mirrored life, because in real life none of us are Oprah.

The legacy of Three Talk with Noeleen lies in its existence. That it existed for 12 years. That it endured with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu for 12 years, come rain or shine; that is survived on the public broadcaster - notorious as a place where shows disappear without word or trace and where shows come and go according to the often insane and uniformed vagaries and decisions of inept SABC executives.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu I met for the first time more than a decade ago at a SABC3 quarterly press preview (then still done by the dear SABC3 publicist Michael van Dyk and Papa Mbongo) shortly after she took over 3 Talk.

What happened was that SABC3 lost The Oprah Winfrey Show to e.tv. SABC3 - with Hannelie Bekker then as programming manager (now back in SA as managing director for FOX International Channels Africa) - decided to rather start its own local TV talk show.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu was roped in quickly for the talk show (which originally started out as a live broadcast in the 18:00 timeslot and has shifted timeslot many, many times since) without a lot of time to prepare.

You might not know it because you're too young, or you might have forgotten: SABC3 actually launched 3 Talk with Bertha Charuma the "Boogie Babe" who was unceremoniously dumped just nine weeks later when things just didn't work out. Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu was the step-in quickly replacement.

And she never looked back.

If there's a "South African dream" in the way that American's believe in the "American dream", then Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu is surely on the list of South Africans who exemplify it for us.

The woman from Umtata who eventually rose to become news editor at Talk Radio 702 and had her own show, "Noleen at 9", was at the time that 702 offered her her first three month contract, only the second black woman on-air there after Zandile Nzalo.

In the years since she became a TV personality, I've interviewed Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu a few times while working at different newspapers and publications and I've always got the sense that she was in it not for the fame, adulation and "TV" but for the long haul and to try and make a difference.

As a TV critic and a journalist covering the TV industry I was never on Three Talk with Noeleen (although I did appear once in a pre-recorded clip) but I've been on the set for a set visit a few years back.

When I look for great television, I also look behind it - at the people who make it. During the set visit of Three Talk with Noeleen I saw the same dedicated, very in-tune, clever and committed producers I've met a few years earlier. Passionate people who really believe in Three Talk and what it represents, and really like and believe in Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu.

Once after a press conference I made a bee-line for Noeleen as the rest ran for the food to ask her about something she said. "You listen way too closely,"she said as she laughed at me.

If there's a lesson for South Africans from Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu's TV tenure its how to keep smiling, laughing, and doing what you're doing. To carry on, regardless of what people and bullies say.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu as TV talk show host was just like us. And for a lot of people that just wasn't enough (although ironically the perfect TV talk show host is supposed to be the "everyman" or "everywoman").

For a lot of TV critics and viewers over the years Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu wasn't big enough (like Oprah!), or thin enough (like Tyra!), or informed enough (how dare she bring back Sharon Glass and know-it-all Prof. Harry Seftel to talk about bladder infection and Dr. D again and again and again?)

For all the badness of, and on, the SABC, Three Talk with Noeleen was actually part of the goodness - a solid public broadcasting television programme, on free-to-air public television, aimed at people who didn't know and wanted to know more; a TV vehicle that was able to be a lot of things to a lot of people.

Three Talk with Noeleen was for petrol attendants and private bankers alike. For stay-at-home moms who wanted some entertainment and someone to relate to. A place to make a connection.

It was for a scared pregnant 16-year old too scared to go to a doctor to anonymously call on a Medical Monday to ask a question and get help.

It was a place in daytime where one day Celine Dion would do an interview, and the next you could see open heart surgery be shown live as a South African TV first.


It was on Three Talk where Kenny Kunene showed up with five girlfriends, and where Noeleen could read embarrassing personal problems - with unexpected hilarity - like a reader's email asking for medical advice about her vagina which is "sounding like it's having a conversation" every time she's intimate with her husband.

And who can ever forget one whole episode just about poo? Oh Noeleen. I think we will miss you.

Whether real or perceived - and whether viewers ever even realised it or not - Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu and Three Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 was part of what democracy and the media and freedom of the press and public broadcasting television at its core all really is about and should be about: the exercising of the freedom to talk about anything.

Panned or adored or indifferent, you could watch an episode of Three Talk with Noeleen and easily forget that you're watching it in Africa - a local TV talk show in South Africa addressing issues and handling topics so matter-of-factly which would never ever be done or said elsewhere in Africa, sometimes with guests who would never be given even a second of airtime anywhere else on television on the continent.

I've watched Three Talk with Noeleen over the years as young people with faltering voices call in who are abused. As women call in who are crying. As depressed, suicidal, lonely and distraught callers reach out one last time and reached out to Noeleen - usually keeping her composure but herself sometimes being visibly overcome by emotion. Heartbreaking stuff.

A lot of those TV moments over the years changed me and perhaps changed South Africa.

In 2014, on one afternoon, without even knowing the topic, I tuned in to Three Talk with Noeleen.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu spoke with rape survivors. Not rape victims, rape survivors.

Ordinary South African women from all walks of life spoke - as if its the most natural thing in the world and with brutal honesty - about how they were raped, how the South African Police and several institutions and service failed them, how they literally (on foot and by car) and through court pursued the rapists themselves and got them sentenced and locked up behind bars.

It wasn't a special day. It was just another day of Three Talk with Noeleen.

It was also a bold and empowering hour of the best of what public access local television is capable of being and doing - not just for the women who spoke, but for all South Africa women, and in the end, all South Africans.

The episode was informative and powerful, giving voice to the voiceless and showing women on public television that there's other women who are not ashamed to show their faces and who simply won't stand for heinous atrocities and violent sexual crime.

Ask yourself: On what other TV channel anywhere else in Africa, on what possible local TV talk show, would you ever see this? None.

Three Talk with Noeleen broadened the perspective and TV limits of what's "talkable" - imperceptible, but definite. Fame is a strange thing and used well, it can make a real difference.

Kilimanjaro was something Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu, together with her producers, wanted to climb, but never got to. Instead the mountain they climbed and conquered was television.

Once I was in a minibus on a media day with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu.

Moronic traffic police pulled us over, wrongly thinking we're a minibus taxi, unable to understand and comprehend it's a rental vehicle from Avis or somewhere. They were ready to pounce with a fine for transporting passengers without a permit. I sat right at the very back, quietly listening and observing.

Eventually, after about 10 minutes of the driver and producers arguing and trying to explain that it's not a taxi, Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu opened her side window, wanting to start to explain what the situation is herself.

Suddenly it dawned on the traffic cop woman who she was talking to. Her rigid, borderline-rude and arrogant attitude instantly changed and melted away and she started to laugh as she pointed. "Hi! It is Noeleen! But I know you!"

"We're doing the show. The people are for the TV. These people are not paying sisi!" said Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu in mock admonishment but humour in her voice. Off we went on our journey.

Thank you Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu. Thank you for the ride.

NAME CHANGE: Now it's just Three Talk for SABC3's weekday talk show 3Talk with Noeleen after Monday's big make-over.

3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 (weekdays, 15:30) produced by Urban Brew Studios, will now be known as Three Talk in future.

The slight name adaptation to just Three Talk follows the make-over of the show on Monday that includes a new set by Michael Gill Designs, a new opening theme with new graphics and adapted theme music.

ALSO READ: Three Talk with Noeleen unveils a brand-new set.
ALSO READ: The scale model miniature of the new Three Talk set.
ALSO READ: What! It's white! Set designer Michael Gill on his white new Three Talk set.

WHAT! IT'S WHITE! Set designer Michael Gill on his surprising new 3Talk set: 'We opened it out. This wasn't possible 20 years ago.'

''What we wanted to do is to turn 3Talk on its head. We wanted to make the show's set fresher, cleaner, more stylized and something that completely pops.''

So says Michael Gill from Michael Gill Designs, the South African set designer extraordinaire, responsible for the new look and feel of the brand-new set of 3Talk with Noeleen (SABC3, weekdays, 15:30) that was unveiled live on air today. Plans for a new set for the 8 year old talk show produced by Urban Brew Studios for SABC3, started in earnest a year ago.

ALSO READ: 3Talk with Noeleen gets a touch-up as South Africa's local daytime talk show queen unveils her brand new white and red set.
ALSO READ: The scale model miniature of the new 3Talk with Noeleen set.

The new 3Talk with Noeleen set simply breathes white.








But white is actually a no-no colour when it comes to television. White easily washes everything else out, can come across as glaring and harsh, and you don't want to be in the final control box to hear the language of technical production staff when white plays havoc with their colour, brightness and especially contrast levels. The fantastic feat that South Africa's foremost set designer pulled off with great success, is probably something that only Michael Gill could - and more importantly, would, attempt.

''Twenty years ago we couldn't have done this,'' says Michael Gill. ''But television on a technical level has evolved to the point where it's finally doable. You can have white on television and have it look great. With better contrast control that's possible, you can have white that creates wonderful sharp contrast on the TV screen,'' he says.

Besides the ox blood red couch, the new 3Talk with Noeleen set (henceforth known as and referred to as Three Talk) also has an interchangeable anthracite grey couch which looks as amazing on the gleaming white set that's infused with plasma screens on the sides and one in the middle that can handle a split video feed.

Viewers will soon see additional set pieces: the new 3Talk with Noeleen kitchen for food preparation as well as a multi-purpose area for demonstrations. ''We had to come up with a brand-new 'everything' for what the 3Talk producers require,'' says Michael Gill.

The new 3Talk set looks a lot bigger but the white is only a part of the secret. ''We've opened it out,'' says Michael Gill, ''and we've put in wide open spaces. For TV we need to cheat. This studio isn't big, but we make it look a lot bigger. We make it look more layered that what it really is and we added plasma TV screens on either side. The look is clean and fresh.''

BREAKING. 3Talk with Noeleen gets a touch-up as South Africa's local daytime talk show queen unveils her brand-new white and red set.

Most women want a little touch-up as often as possible, and they quickly do it during intermission and then again after the concert. But if your television symphony stretches eight years with no end in sight yet, you'd be forgiven for wanting to do a little more from time to time than just a powder dab here and there.

The longrunning 3Talk with Noeleen (SABC3, weekdays, 15:30) (henceforth known as and referred to as Three Talk) with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu unveiled its brand-new set today, the show's 4th at Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg since the local talk show started eight years ago.

''Good afternoon. I'm Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu and I'm glad to welcome you to 3Talk with a difference,'' said the jovial TV host that South African viewers have come to know for almost a decade with her boistrous teletalk personality who's ready to yap about anything from medical Mondays to celebrity Fridays and all kinds of Sharon Glass cooking segments in between. ''For almost a year we've been working to bring you a new look and feel,'' she said in the live episode on SABC3 that revealed the new white and red set (the ''ox blood'' couch interchangeable with a grey couch) by Michael Gill from Michael Gill Designs.

Of course Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu hammed it up for the production and crew and the selected press in attendance. ''I was told ... I demand 12 dozen red roses!'' And later: ''I've never had a coffee table! This is my new home.'' A bit later she turned reflective and pensive. ''There will be no more circular floor, no more orange; no more brown,'' she said as she walked around her new set in centimetre high red stilettos that defied not just belief, but gravity.

''We drove Michael Gill mad,'' says Joanne Lurie, 3Talk with Noeleen producer about the new set design. ''We were sitting in the boardroom. Creative director Freddie Louw had an idea and he held it up and said 'here it is'. It had the configuration and the plasma TV screens and he came up with the basic look in a moment of brilliance and Michael Gill took it from there.''

''I'm still petrified that people are going to say it's ugly,'' says Joanne Lurie, ''and that they're basically going to say my child is ugly.''

Beyond the new set Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu said she plans on continuing to give all her energy to making a talk show that connects with South Africans. ''Every show I do, five days a week, is really special. Everybody's got a problem. Everybody's got an issue to overcome. But it's once we talk to each other that we discover that there's many people who are going through the same exact thing.''

ALSO READ: What! It's white! Set designer Michael Gill on his surprising new 3Talk set: ''We opened it out. This wasn't possible 20 years ago.''

ALSO READ: The small scale model and paper miniature of the new 3Talk with Noeleen set on SABC3.

FIRST LOOK! Here's the small scale set model and paper miniature of the brand-new revamped set of 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3.

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I can be first journalist covering television to exclusively reveal this model paper miniature mock-up of the brand-new set of 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 (weekdays, 15:30) that was unveiled today. (Henceforth the show will be known as and referred to as Three Talk.)

Viewers got their first glimpse of the brand-new Michael Gill Designs set in white and red during today's relaunch episode that adapted the 3Talk with Noeleen theme music and the opening theme besides the new set. More changes for the local South African talk show are in store.

Set redesign talks and work started in earnest a year ago between Urban Brew Studios that's producing the show, 3Talk's creative director Freddie Louw and Michael Gill from Michael Gill Designs.

3Talk was supposed to sport a new look and feel in January 2009 already but the set redesign for the 8 year old talk show with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu kept being pushed back for various reasons for two and a half years. It finally happened today.

ALSO READ: The new 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 with a brand new set to be unveiled on Monday 4 July.

BREAKING. Come see her hair! Monday's relaunch of 3Talk with Noeleen filled with bloopers, quirky moments, best guests and hairstyles.

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Come look at her hair! I've asked and have the details about what exactly viewers can expect (besides a new set; besides a new look and intro) when 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 relaunches this Monday 4 July (SABC3, weekdays) with a live episode at 15:30.

SABC3's acting channel head Ed Worster will definitely be present at Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg where the weekday local South African talk show originates from for its biggest make-over since it started. 3Talk with Noeleen turned 8 years old in May.

ALSO READ: The new 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 with a new set, new look and features to be unveiled Monday 4 July in a live episode
ALSO READ: Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu on 3Talk's relaunch in July: ''We may look very different but we'll continue the conversation.''
ALSO READ: Plans for the addition of a live daily studio audience for the relaunch of 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 has been canned.

The show will take a hilarious look back at the many hairstyles Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu has had over the past 8 years, and will show a treasure-trove of the quirky, funny and unexpected moments, snafu's and bloopers of 3Talk with Noeleen over the years.

Also on the special 3Talk with Noeleen relaunch episode of Monday will be a look back at the best guests over the years, ranging from funny to poignant, heartbreaking to hilarious, as well as the new set, how 3Talk with Noeleen started and how the show will be changing as well as the new features it will be incorporating.

BREAKING. The new 3Talk with Noeleen with a new set, new look and features, to be unveiled Monday 4 July in a special live episode.

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I can exclusive break the news that the long-gestated make-over and brand-new 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 will happen on Monday 4 July at 15:30 that will include a brand-new set, opening theme and theme song in a special live episode.

ALSO READ: Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu on 3Talk with Noeleen's major revamp set for July: ''We may look very different, but we'll continue the conversation.''
ALSO READ: Plans for the addition of a live studio audience for the new 3Talk with Noeleen has been canned.

I can reveal that on Monday 4 July Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu will unveil her talk show's brand-new look that will include a brand-new studio in a special live broadcast of the weekday show that will happen at Urban Brew Studio in Johannesburg.
''Everybody is hard at work,'' an insider whispers to me. ''This [4 July] is going to be the biggest transformation of 3Talk since it started - while essentially remaining the same show. It will just be made better''.

SABC3 ordered a drastic revamp of the look and feel of 3Talk with Noeleen as far back as the end of 2009 and wanted the make-over to start January 2010.
Then the relaunch was pushed to April 2010 for 3Talk's 7th birthday, then May 2010, then July 2010 to co-incide with the Soccer World Cup. Then SABC3 didn't want the revamp to get lost in the attention going to viewers watching soccer and pushed it again to October 2010. Yet again the 3Talk with Noeleen make-over was postponed to the beginning of 2011, and then - finally - July 2011.

Although the initial long-planned introduction of a daily live studio audience for 3Talk with Noeleen that was on the cards for a very long time, a source familiar with the long make-over saga told me that in the end - and because of the drawn-out revamp - it's not happening anymore. ''If it happened when it originally would have happened there wold have been shows before a live studio audience. The sort of town hall meeting kind. So much time passed that people changed their minds back,'' I'm told.

BREAKING. Oh no! No more live studio audience for 3Talk and Noeleen when the SABC3 talk show relaunches with a new look and set in July.

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''You get a car! You get a car! Everybod- ... oh wait. Where's everybody?'' I can exclusively reveal that plans for the addition of a live studio audience for 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 has been canned and will not be happening as originally envisioned for when the talk show completely revamps and relaunches in July.

An insider - without revealing why - is simply saying that the addition of a live studio audience that would have formed a part of the new logo, set and the other changes of the local weekday talk show that has been planning a revamp since January 2009 - is no longer one of the coming changes.

''There won't be a live studio audience for 3Talk anymore. That's one bit that isn't happening anymore.'' The insider also says the construction of the brand-new 3Talk set to be revealed in July has been taking longer than expected to complete. ''From July despite the new look it will still just be Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu on the set and whoever the guest or the panel of guests are. There won't be an audience. They're not going that route anymore.''

ALSO READ: Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu on 3Talk's upcoming relaunch and revamp in July: ''We may look very different, but we'll continue the conversation.''
ALSO READ: Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu of SABC3's 3Talk is planning to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

BREAKING. Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu on 3Talk's relaunch in July: ''We may look very different, but we'll continue the conversation.''

''We'll be heating up the winter months with a brand-new look,'' said 3Talk with Noeleen host Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu in a taped video message to the press corps covering television at SABC3's quarterly press screening event for June, confirming the relaunch of the show in July that's been planned for 2 years and kept being postponed.

ALSO READ: Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu of SABC3's 3Talk with Noeleen is planning on climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

''Keep an eye on us this July when we reveal 3Talk with Noeleen with a difference,'' she said. ''We may look very different, but we'll continue the conversation with South Africans as we bring the most relevant topics to your screen, providing essential viewing filled with inspiration, information and entertainment.''

''At 3Talk we'll still be kicking off every week with out Medical Mondays. Our panel of experts will be here to answer all your questions and shed light on an array of topics, arming you with the information you need to take control of your health. Over the past two years Sharon Glass has taken us from the very basics of cooking to gourmet cuisine and she'll remain with us for the remainder of 2011, expanding our recipe repertoire even further.''

''The next three months of 3Talk with Noeleen will be jam-packed with homegrown celebrities, music and books as we continue to bring you the very best in local entertainment. We'll also be spicing up 3Talk with our hot monthly debate which our viewers have a chance to get involved in.''

''We'll continue to find ways to involve the social networking community in our show and let their voices be heard. You can't afford to miss me and my phenomenal guests, coming to you Monday to Friday on SABC3 at 15:30,'' says Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu.

BREAKING. Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu of SABC3's 3Talk with Noeleen is planning to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

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Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu of 3Talk with Noeleen (SABC3, weekdays, 15:30) is planning to go to the top of Kilimanjaro, with the talk show host working on climbing to the highest point in Africa and taking her viewers along for the adventure.

Insiders confirm to TV with Thinus exclusively that the long-gestated plan is definitely in the works. ''It's been planned for a long, long time,'' says a source familiar with the productions schedule. ''Noeleen agreed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and she is going to go. It will definitely be happening.'' Another source tells me they're ''trying to find a sponsor, so a date will be set once they have a sponsor on board.''

Besides Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu scaling the highest mountain in Africa and visiting Tanzania, the planned relaunch of 3Talk with Noeleen which has now been dragging for over 2 years is definitely still on the cards. ''Everytime we gear up, something puts a spoke in the wheel,'' says an insider close to the show.

Now the relaunch of the show that will see a studio audience being added for Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu as well as a brand-new set, and new outside-based shows as well as on location one-on-one interviews are all still being planned. ''It's now July, but who knows,'' says another. ''A specific date is difficult because of the set and its been postponed so many times now, nobody really goes according to a specific timeframe anymore. It will happen when it happens. For now the latest current date for the relaunch of 3Talk with Noeleen is planned for July.''

All the details about the special cricket themed episodes SABC3's 3Talk with Noeleen is planning for the Cricket World Cup.

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During the Cricket World Cup coverage coming soon on SABC3 the broadcaster's local weekday talk show 3Talk with Noeleen will be doing a whole range of cricket themed episodes and I can exclusively tell you what exactly the producers are planning for this period and for Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu's show.

Although not finalized (meaning the details of it could still change, it's a dynamic talk show after all) 3Talk with Noeleen plans a special ''Proteas Send-off Show'' for 18 February. 3Talk with Noeleen will bid the Proteas farewell with well-wishes from famous South Africans. ''We will also bring viewers the Proteas send-off party held earlier this month where we caught up with Graeme Smith, Lopsy, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and more,'' I'm told.

Other cricket related 3Talk with Noeleen episodes will focus on ''Cricket Books'' showcasing a collection of great books written about the Gentleman's game spanning the range of the genre from epic cricket moments to the rules of the game. ''Cricket for Dummies'' is envisioned specially for cricket widows during the Cricket World Cup and will be a crash-course breaking down the rules and regulations for viewers to keep up with the game.

''Cricket Development'' is another planned episode that will go behind the sport to look at what programmes exist to foster new talent. ''Big Match Temperament'' will look at wht the Proteas should be doing to develop big match temperament - and how ordinary viewers can apply that same strategies to big events in their own lives. The 3Talk with Noeleen producers are thinking of ''Cricket Snacks'' as an episode and resident chef Sharon Glass will probably be called upon for top tips on preparing perfect cricket snacks.

Of course nothing says TV synergy that getting the presenters of one show on another show, so ''Cricket Presenters'' will see the commentators and special analysts of the SABC's cricket coverage team talking to Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu about the game and themselves.

ALSO READ: The SABC and SuperSport reveal their Cricket World Cup broadcast coverage plans.

BREAKING. SABC3's relaunch of 3Talk with Noeleen pushed out again; new show will now only debut in April because of cricket.

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I can break the news that the coming relaunch of 3Talk with Noeleen, SABC3's weekday afternoon talk show with host Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu (that SABC3 has been trying to do since this January 2010) has again been pushed out - now to April 2011.

3Talk with Noeleen was supposed to relaunch in January this year, a change SABC3 heralded in December of 2009. But January 2010 came and went and SABC3 pushed the refreshed look and format of the show out to March, then June, then to August after the Soccer World Cup, then finally January of 2011. Now 3Talk with Noeleen has again been postponed - which is starting to make it the longest TV property relaunch postponement SABC3 has ever seen.

''We're repositioning 3Talk with Noeleen and redesigning the set completely,'' Risuna Mayimele, SABC3's marketing manager tells me when I asked what is happening with the talk show. ''What's happening now is that we were supposed to relaunch 3Talk with Noeleen in January. We now have the Cricket World Cup in February, so we're thinking of moving it to April. It wouldn't longer make sense now to relaunch 3Talk with Noeleen in January, so we're now going to move it to April,'' she tells me.

Regarding what SABC3 want to do with the show Risuna Mayimele tells me ''we want to make 3Talk with Noeleen more engaging and interactive – create an even better emotional commection with our viewers. We're looking at taking Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu more outside of the studio. In some instances we might have a studio audience.''

BREAKING. 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 will ''continue the conversation'' during November and December with new episodes.

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''As a live daily weekday show 3Talk with Noeleen we will continue the conversation with South Africans as we bring the most relevant topics to your screen during November and December,'' says Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu, host of SABC3's weekday talk show at 15:50.

''As the festive season approaches 3Talk with Noeleen will have the best in local holiday destinations, how to pack the perfect suitcase for your getaway and how to save your bonuses so that a vacation is affordable. Over the past year and a half Sharon Glass has taken us from very basics of cooking to gourmet cuisine and she'll remain with us for the remainder of 2010. She'll also give us top tips on keeping the kiddies' tummies full over the holidays and she'll be preparing us the ultimate Christmas feast and the perfect New Years nibbles to see us through the festive season.''

''We'll still be kicking off every week with our Medical Mondays,'' says Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu. ''Our panel of experts will be here to answer all your questions. The next two months on 3Talk with Noeleen will be jam-packed with homegrown celebrities, music and books as we continue to bring you the very best in local entertainment. We'll end of our weeks with our fabulous fun Fridays where we'll bring you our monthly movie review shows and celebrity interviews.''

ALSO READ: 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 relaunching with a live studio audience in January 2011.

BREAKING. 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 relaunching in January with a daily, live studio audience.

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3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 with talk show host Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu will be relaunching the weekday afternoon talk show in January 2011 with more interactive components as well as a daily, live studio audience.

The 3Talk with Noeleen relaunch which I've kept track of since the beginning of this year, was pushed back to June to originally co-incide with the 10th anniversary of the show on SABC3. Then the relaunch was moved to August after the 2010 World Cup, then September, then October and now its January. 

''It is coming. It is happening,'' Risuna Mayimele, SABC3's marketing manager told me earlier today when I asked about 3Talk with Noeleen's constantly moved relaunch date. ''We've decided to start the new year of 2011 fresh and that's the new date for the 3Talk with Noeleen relaunch. The show will get a complete makeover with a live studio audience, interactiveness and Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu going more on location for specific shows.''

BREAKING. The upcoming relaunch of SABC3's talk show 3Talk with Noeleen now pushed out to October.

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I can reveal that the proposed relaunch date of SABC3's talk show 3Talk with Noeleen has now again been pushed back and the channel and producers are now eyeing a date in October to debut the revamp of the weekday local show.

In May I broke the news RIGHT HERE that 3Talk with Noeleen is set to relaunch in a massive way in August right after the conclusion of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Of course SABC3 execs dragged their heels and that plan was pushed to the end of August or the beginning of September as I broke the news RIGHT HERE. Now the relaunch of Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu's show that will come with more viewer interactivity, possible outside broadcasts and even a possible studio audience has been delayed again, I've been told exclusively.

''3Talk with Noeleen will now change in October with its new look but it hasn't exactly been confirmed as yet,'' an insider whispers to me. ''We're not sure if its the beginning or the end of October. Everyone's waiting for contracts to be finalized,'' I'm told.

BREAKING. August relaunch of 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 pushed to the end of August, beginning September.

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I can reveal that the August releaunch of SABC3's weekday local talker 3Talk with Noeleen has been pushed back to the end of August or beginning September.

In May I broke the news RIGHT HERE that 3Talk with Noeleen is set to relaunch in a massive way in August right after the conclusion of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. SABC3 top brass and 3Talk with Noeleen producers decided to wait until after the soccer fever have died down, so as to not ''compete with an avalanche of things pulling viewers' attention in other directions and drowning us out completely,'' as one producer insider told me.

Now I hear 3Talk with Noeleen has pushed back the relaunch of the show further and that the new look and interactive components of the talk show will only debut probably towards the end of August or the beginning of September. And get this: SABC3 has no marketing plan yet at all as to how its going to bring the planned relaunch under viewers' attention.

BREAKING. 3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 set to relaunch in August ''for the beginning of a whole new season''.

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I can exclusively reveal that SABC3's weekday local talk show, 3 Talk with Noeleen, will relaunch in a massive way during August and is getting ready ''for the beginning of a whole new season''.

SABC3 is waiting for the Soccer World Cup to come and go and then 3Talk with Noeleen that is currently celebrating its seven year on air with talk show host Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu will relaunch in a massive way - the biggest since the show started in 2003 with Noeleen Maholwana Sangqu as the host. I can tell you that 3Talk with Noeleen will get a whole new look and feel, a brand-new set and that it will be ''the beginning of a whole new season'' - not just in terms of the show starting a new year, but the direction and scope of the show.

3Talk with Noeleen will relaunch towards the end of August and with all the new changes planned, the talk show, and Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu, will be getting closer than ever before to her guests as well as the viewers at home.

ALSO READ: My interview with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu on 3Talk with Noeleen turning 7.
ALSO READ: 3Talk with Noeleen turns 7: 7 looks through the years.

INTERVIEW. Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu on 3Talk's 7th birthday: ''The conversation is continuing.''

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3Talk with Noeleen on weekdays on SABC3 just celebrated its seventh birthday and I spoke with TV talk show host Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu. I was there when SABC3 first introduced Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu to TV writers seven years ago in Johannesburg as the new face of 3Talk on the channel.

Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu talked to me about her exciting journey, moments that have touched her and ''phenomenal guests'', why she keeps doing it and for how long she will continue to, as well as what she has learned from doing a daily TV talk show and human nature. She opens up about what this show has meant for her, how she sifts all the voices on a daily basis, and how she thinks the way we talk, has changed in South Africa.

For my comprehensive interview with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu, as well as more photos, click on READ MORE below.

BREAKING. 3Talk with Noeleen's 7th anniversary: 7 looks through the years.

3Talk with Noeleen on SABC3 turns 7 today and I've written about the talk show's 7th anniversary RIGHT HERE. To celebrate, here's seven looks from talk show host Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu over the past seven years!