Coconut Kelz joins the 6th season of Trending SA as SABC3's Topina-produced weekday talker opts for a set of rotating panellists and bigger focus on entertainment.

by Thinus Ferreira

Coconut Kelz, as part of a new set of panellists who will be rotating on episodes, is replacing Refiloe Mpakanyane and Elma Smit on SABC3's  Trending SA show, with MaBlerh who remains as the sole fixed presenter while the talk TV series opts for a new creative direction that will see a bigger focus on entertainment.

The 6th season of the weekday evening TV talk show Trending SA, produced by the Thabo Pitso's Topina production company, will start today on SABC3 at 18:00 with Mo Flava, Lootlove and Lesego Thlabi, better known as Coconut Kelz, taking over as the latest set of panellists.

These rotating panellists are replacing Elma Smit and Refiloe Mpakanyane who joined the series for its 5th season when the talk show was revived in mid-2020, with Trending SA saying that the "producers would like to wish them all the best in their current and future endeavours".

Sive Nkukwana, Trending SA series producer, says "I am so excited to bring this new season of Trending SA to our audiences; we have kept the premise and the heart of the show".

"We are still the leaders in social commentary and we love being at the centre of what South Africa is talking about. Our viewers can expect to see their favourite features, insightful interviews from thought-leaders and celebrities, and super-sized roundtable conversations".

"The creative direction will be entertainment-skewed this time around with a lot of viewer engagement and gamification of some segments."

Mo Flava says "I am extremely excited about this opportunity. Trending SA is a show I enjoy and I am a fan of talk TV, so joining the team is amazing".

Lesego Thlabi says she "literally manifested this moment. I spoke about being a Trending SA presenter specifically, even on-air I joked about it being my audition".

"So to say I'm super-excited is honestly an understatement. It finally feels like everything I've worked for, I'm starting to reap the rewards and I couldn't be more grateful and eager for the road ahead".

ALSO READ: SABC3 revives Trending SA talk show after cash-woes ease, rejigged show moved to early prime time now has Mablerh, Elma Smit and Refiloe Mpakanyane as presenters.

SABC3 revives Trending SA talk show after cash-woes ease, rejigged show moved to early prime time now has Mablerh, Elma Smit and Refiloe Mpakanyane as presenters.

by Thinus Ferreira

A year after the cash-strapped SABC cancelled Trending SA on SABC3 and finally released the presenters from their contracts the show is being revived with a new set of talkers from Monday 3 August at 18:00.

The studio-based talk show that was cancelled in 2019 is being remodelled and has been moved from late-night to an early primetime slot

The weekday show will still have the studio presenters talk about what is "trending" on social media and has replaced the previous presenters of Kuli Roberts, Nina Hastie and Musa Mthombeni with the radio personality and musician Mablerh, the sports presenter Elma Smit, and the radio and TV anchor Refiloe Mpakanyane.

Trending SA was cancelled in 2019 along with several other locally-produced shows that were scrapped and put on hold when the SABC went through a severe cash-crunch and could no longer pay local production companies.

SABC3 says that the revived Trending SA will see the panellists do "introspective debate sure to spark and inspire South Africa to join in on the conversation".

"Trending SA will also invite thought leaders and experts from different industries for insightful and impactful interviews."

"Fridays kicks off the weekend with all things sports, a little bit of play, and a supersized round table discussion with influencers analysing and weighing in on top stories of the week."