SA's Got Talent on e.tv loses judges Ian von Memerty and Kabelo Mabalane for the upcoming 5th season.

SA's Got Talent on e.tv is losing judges Ian von Memerty and Kabelo Mabalane for the upcoming 5th season, leaving Shadow Twala as the only returning judge out of the red X tabled trio.

Tats Nkonzo will however be back as the presenter of SA's Got Talent again.

"We are still finalising the new judges. We can confirm that both Kabelo Mabalane and Ian von Memerty are leaving SA's Got Talent," e.tv tells me.

"They have other engagements which fall at the same time as SA's Got Talent," says e.tv.

Kabelo Mabalane has jumped TV channels to SABC2 where he will soon be the presenter of the new show Play Your Part.

Meanwhile the nationwide auditions are continuing with South Africans turning out in droves.

Johannesburg and surrounds are up next on Saturday and Sunday 7 and 8 June with auditions taking place at Focus Rooms. Contestants can pre-register and email talent@rapidblue.com for an application form and more information.

BREAKING. Kabelo 'Bouga Luv' Mabalane replaces Randall Abrahams as Shado Twala, Ian von Memerty return as judges for SA's Got Talent.

Shado Twala and Ian von Memerty will be back as judges for the new season of SA's Got Talent starting on 30 August at 20:30 on e.tv - while the kwaito musician, actor and presenter Kabelo "Bouga Luv" Mabalane will be replacing Randall Abrahams who will still be seen on screen in M-Net's Idols.

No word on the presenter(s) of SA's Got Talent yet.

Not only is the show jumping from SABC2 to e.tv for the new season, but Kabelo Mabalane is also moving from SABC2 to e.tv. Kabelo Mabalane used to be the presenter of Sportsnite on SABC2.

BREAKING. Darren Rajbal wins first ever SA's Got Talent.

You're reading it here first. Darren Rajbal (19) from Mayville, Durban became the first ever winner of SABC2's reality show SA's Got Talent earlier this evening.

The solo hip hop dancer who used a sign-language interpreter during and after his performances in the show, received the most votes from viewers to win the title in the live broadcast of the finale on Thursday evening.

SA's Got Talent suffered in my opinion as a new TV property, it being a new TV format for local audiences that neither SABC2 nor the producers did any favours by a fast paced scheduling blitz. The show also suffered some technical glitches earlier this week during voting and simply had no big Susan Boyle-worthy break-out buzz building around a specific star to thrust the show into the popular consciousness. The foreign scheduling system that saw the show culminate in four live consecutive shows since Monday to build up to the final also detracted from what the show could have been. Much more could have been done to tell the viewing public how the show will end and what is required of them. Otherwise the live shows should simply have played out with one episode per week.

I've asked widely and TV experts agree that the show lacked real talent and break-out stars, which the producers could possibly improve on during a possible second season (and beyond) by allowing potential contestants (1) a longer time period to enter as well as (2) employing more devices to canvass wider for possible contestants.

Personally the one redeeming quality of the show was the producers' brilliant choice of pairing up Anele Mdoda and Rob van Vuuren as co-hosts. Their combined chemistry on-screen shined and the production company and SABC2 would be well advised to not just make use of them, but reign them in for even more potential TV work as well as other possible marketing opportunities for the channel. Ian von Memerty also deserves recognition for his smooth transition as Strictly Come Dancing host to TV judge. He did well.

I wrote some stories about acts who tried to enter but couldn't, and that after the producers promised that every entry would get a chance to audition. They should try again, should there be a second season. SA's Got Talent has talent, the TV show just needs to finetune and improve on what it can do and be, and showcase it better.