Fired head of TV Verona Duwarkah on how fighting SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng caused her 'severe stress' as she was 'emotionally, physically and mentally devastated'.

The shocking labour court case between the SABC and its former head of TV Verona Duwarkah who was fired and replaced in July this year after a massive falling out with the controversial SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng, not only lifts the lid on how he traumatised her, but also how SABC TV viewership is plunging and how Hlaudi Motsoeneng usurped and is allegedly flouting content commissioning policy.

Meanwhile TV channels like SABC2 and SABC3 are floundering under the devastating new content commissioning regime Hlaudi Motsoeneng implemented earlier this year after sidelining Verona Duwarkah and which also led to her leaving the SABC.

The City Press and Sunday Times newspapers on Sunday both reveals details from Verona Duwarkah's shocking labour court case with the South African public broadcaster.

Verona Duwarkah was kicked out the door by the SABC after fighting and being traumatised by Hlaudi Motsoeneng as chief operating officer (COO) - who is now the head of SABC's corporate affairs but remains in his same opulent 27th floor office.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng who in 2016 several times mentioned that the SABC has set aside a budget of R600 million to produce new TV content, has set up a "Special Projects" unit to essentially "take over" commissioning of new programming.

This new process especially favours new and inexperienced producers including TV stars with bad TV ideas now wanting to make television. Verona Duwarka fought against this, warning that Hlaudi Motsoeneng is flouting due diligence and processes and policy.

This Special Projects team at the SABC, according to City Press, is led by Jacqui Hlongwane, the SABC's SABC2 programming executive, and Danie Swart, the head of the SABC Education division.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the roped in SABC executives allegedly flouted not just the SABC's own commissioning policies but also that of South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

In the shocking court case that she won in September, Verona Duwarkah - who had been at the SABC for 25 years before she was forced out - details her "severe stress" caused by constantly fighting with Hlaudi Motsoeneng behind the scenes.

After winning her court case against the SABC and Hlaudi Motsoeneng, Verona Duwarkah returned to the SABC in September, but after less than a week back at work got a termination of employment payout in the form of a golden handshade and left.

In the court papers, Verona Duwarkah revealed the fighting with the controversial SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng caused her to be "emotionally, physically and mentally devastated".

The SABC, through Mohlolo Lephaka as the SABC's head of human resources, in a responding affadavit, accused Verona Duwarkah of making "malicious" claims" and of taking too much sick leave and even wondering on court papers of "whether depression prevents one from working".

The SABC accused her of non-performance by not commissioning new TV shows quickly enough.

The SABC further slammed Verona Duwarkah in the court papers, saying her claims are "irrelevant, untrue, unfounded and unsubstantiated personal attacks" on Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

Verona Duwarkah said "The final straw came when instructions were given to me by Hlaudi Motsoeneng that I had to execute and implement material changes in policy, despite the fact that these were not approved in accordance with the operating standards."

Verona Duwarkah reveals in the court papers how the SABC's Hlaudi Motsoeneng utterly humiliated her in front of other TV executives and how she repeatedly warned him to stop meddling in everything since it's causing dramatic revenue losses for the SABC as well as audience erosion.

The Sunday Times details Verona Duwarkah's revelations of how the famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng wasted millions of rands at the SABC.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng ordered the broadcasting of sport events that doesn't have viewers, ordered her to dish out TV contracts of millions of rands to people whose bad ideas had been rejected, and ordered presenter line-up changes at awards shows broadcast by the SABC like The Metro FM Awards in January and The South African Music Awards in June at "vast additional costs".

"Hlaudi Motsoeneng hand-picked a select few producers and instructed me to ensure they were given contracts, even though some of their proposals had previously been rejected by the content team," says Verona Duwarkah in the labour court case papers.

Verona Duwarkah in court papers said Hlaudi Motsoeneng "started acting more erratic as time went on".

Despite the SABC's falling revenue and sagging viewership, Hlaudi Motsoeneng has been adamant to splurge on new content to boost local programming to 90% for the SABC's TV stations, starting with SABC3 at 80% where all of the newly rushed-to-air shows have been total rating flops and dragged SABC3 revenue and ratings down even further.

Meanwhile, out of the Request for Proposals (the so-called RFP book) that the SABC used to issue to producers detailing what content the SABC wants made for broadcast and which Hlaudi Motsoeneng did away with, it's revealed that the SABC only commissioned a paltry 57 of 1 426 proposals the public broadcaster got from the South African TV industry.

Meanwhile the SABC apparently has no current commissioning policy on its website for producers.

The SABC's acting chief operating officer (COO) Bessie Tugwana who've been shuffled into several positions this year, told City Press in another report about SABC2 and SABC3's shocking ongoing viewership losses that the channels had been sliding for years.

SHOCKER. Producers fighting back after SABC suddenly decides to cancel local telenovela High Rollers on SABC3 within 30 days.

Shock and disbelief is reverberating through South Africa's television industry as the SABC that promised more, not less, local content for SABC3, has decided to abruptly cancel the local weekday telenovela High Rollers within 30 days - but the producers are fighting back, saying they are adamant for the show to remain on the air.

The SABC launched High Rollers with big fanfare in April 2013 at 20:30 with hour long episodes and renewed it for a second season in 2015 and moved it to 19:30 as a half hour drama.

The show was renewed for a full third season of 156 episodes in May this year and extended from three to five days per week with the SABC no longer calling it a telenovela but a primetime weekday soap.

After the production company with producing and directing brothers Luke and Josh Rous, struggled for four and a half years to finally get the show on the cash-strapped SABC in 2013, the SABC now suddenly wants High Rollers with its large ensemble cast gone and cancelled - within 30 days.

The shock decision comes despite the controversial SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng who said the SABC is not just fighting for more job security for actors and TV biz workers, but also supports local content and just months after he said the SABC will increase SABC television content to 90% local, starting with 80% local content on SABC3.

While the fictional Kings Casino set High Rollers has never been a strong ratings performer, it is local content produced by a local cast with local producers - the type of content and show the SABC's Hlaudi Motsoeneng said the public broadcaster now values as it rids its TV schedules of foreign content and international shows.

The viewership for High Rollers fell since May when the SABC introduced a dramatic schedule make-over for SABC3 from a low 645  858 viewers (1.9 AR, 5.6 share) to 540  570 viewers ( 1.6 AR, 4.7 share).

It is however in line with and part of the entire SABC3 schedule that saw a viewership implosion since June with the channel's ratings falling month after month since May as South African viewers have shunned all the new local content rushed to air and dished up on the struggling channel's line-up.

Last month, for the first time ever in SABC history - and doing it again in November - SABC programming executives decided to replace High Rollers on SABC3 with Generations from SABC1 due to soccer.

The disruptive move was the first time in the history of the South African public broadcaster that it replaced one locally produced SABC TV soap with another of its locally produced TV soaps for sport reasons, and through it signaled that High Rollers and that show's viewership doesn't matter that much - or matters less - than Generations.

Gone in 30 days?
While High Rollers as a weekday, primetime soap on SABC3 is what is known as an "anchor programme" - episodes are stripped daily on weekdays, at the same time, courting a dedicated audience who habitually tune in and who are following an ongoing narrative - the SABC now wants to dismantle it, just as SABC2 started its own local telenovela, Keeping Score last month.

High Rollers is however planning on fighting back, since its sudden cancellation with leave a large group of people suddenly out of work.

The shocked production company Rous House Productions says "the SABC have signaled their intent to cancel High Rollers within 30 business days" and was told the SABC is taking the decision "based on programming strategy changes on SABC3".

The production company that's also responsible for the Setswana sitcom Ga Re Dumele on SABC2, Gauteng Maboneng and sitcom City Ses'la on SABC1, says "Rous House Productions does not agree with the SABC's cancellation letter".

Rouse House Productions in a statement says that it's working with the SABC to try and "resolve this matter".

The SABC didn't immediately respond to media enquiries made on Saturday morning about why the broadcaster wants to end High Rollers.

High Rollers' large ensemble cast includes local stars like Anthony Coleman, Thapelo Mokoena, Terence Bridgett, Hayley Owen, Jai Prakash, Vilje Maritz, Thishiwe Ziqubu and Thishiwe Ziqubu.

BBC admits its Planet Earth 2 documentary coming to BBC Earth 'faked' scenes as controversy grows over 'cruel and brutal' show after snow leopard rape scene.

Things are starting to look bad for the BBC's Planet Earth 2 documentary series with Sir David Attenborough after the BBC admitted to using a trained bird to film what looked like incredible eagle footage and with a growing backlash from British viewers slamming the show as cruel and brutal following a snow leopard rape scene.

BBC Worldwide plans to start showing Planet Earth II from 5 February 2017 in South Africa on BBC Earth (DStv 184) but controversy is growing in the United Kingdom over how the BBC and producers duped viewers who feel that the show is too cruel, brutal and violent.

After first boasting about how a parachuting cameraman managed to captured breathtaking scenes without telling viewers how the "natural history" was really filmed, the BBC this week admitted that scenes of an eagle flying above a majestic mountain range was actually done using a trained and captive bird called Slovak living in a wildlife sanctuary in France.

The BBC did it in the first 2006 series as well. After it was broadcast, a former cameraman for Planet Earth revealed that the documentary series "faked" scenes. A polar bear giving birth was actually filmed in a zoo for instance.

The BBC says Planet Earth II took 4 years of production, shooting for 2 089 days in 40 different countries, but viewer anger is building up over what they say is too cruel a show.

During a TV interview, a producer said the BBC and Planet Earth II, in order to compete with popular shows like Game of Thrones, must be real with viewers.

"We take the viewers on an emotional journey," the producer said during a TV interview this week. "These days a series like Planet Earth II, we are trying to compete with things like Game of Thrones and trying to give the viewer a very emotional journey."

The BBC reportedly shocked by showing viewers how a snow leopard in the Himalayas gets raped in Planet Earth II as she tries to protect her young cub by giving it time to escape.

The BBC says "From islands to mountains, viewers will be immersed in the most spectacular landscapes and habitats on Earth and will be brought eye to eye with the animals that live there".

How CNBC Africa's ongoing lack of punting its programming is creating a growing problem and doing increasing damage to the CNBC Africa brand.

CNBC Africa's (DStv 410) ongoing problem - its lack of punting and communicating about its programming to the press - is doing increasing damage to the CNBC Africa brand - so much so that advertisers, reps and the media are spreading rumours that CNBC Africa is struggling and has dumped efforts to do live local programming after 18:00 in the evening.

CNBC Africa has the same problem as the SABC, and similar to the South African public broadcaster has let it fester and grow. 

CNBC Africa is giving the media covering television nothing to go on.

By creating a total vacuum through a lack of actually promoting and talking about its existing and upcoming content and on-air talent, CNBC Africa is doing nothing to keep the press informed about what it's actually doing.

It makes the media turn from covering a broadcaster's programming, to covering its behind-the-scenes operational and management issues.

By doing very little to communicate about its actual programming (which would take up time, and time away from journalists doing other stories) what happened with the SABC is what's happening with CNBC Africa from a PR and publicity perspective. 

Once the media and journalists latch onto other issue-driven narratives like the SABC's behind-the-scenes crisis and Hlaudi Motsoeneng, it's very hard to get the media to now write and make stories out of SABC1's Khumbul'ekhaya synopsis (oh wait, those don't exist).

It's now happening to CNBC Africa as well, available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform and on StarTimes elsewhere in Africa, with the pan-African business channel that does content that comes and goes just like a tree that falls in the forest with nobody hearing.

Case in point is for instance that last night, on Thursday, CNBC Africa apparently broadcast its annual All Africa Business Leaders Awards 2016 (AABLA) on DStv. 

The actual ceremony took place earlier this week in Johannesburg.

CNBC Africa communicated nothing about this to the relevant media actually covering or theoretically covering the channel - most have given up years ago.

CNBC Africa couldn't get itself to inform not just that the awards show, CNBC Africa's biggest localised event and argubly the biggest "thing" for the channel every year is taking place - but afterwards not even who won, or when and that it would be broadcast.

CNBC Africa couldn't be bothered to issue even one press release in the lead-up to the AABLA2016 finale, nor about the winners afterwards, nor even a programming note to the media of when it would be shown.

Meanwhile CNBC Africa's lack of any apparent consistent communication strategy to notify the media about its programming in the way other DStv news channels do, has lead to the start of rumours that CNBC Africa has done away with live programming during the evenings on the channel.

Speculation is rife that CNBC Africa is struggling, and that it's been too difficult to find advertisers and too expensive to continue to do local live programming.

If only CNBC Africa actually took the effort to let the media know not just that it is doing programming but what programming it's doing on a continuous basis, it's of course highly unlikely that the swirling rumours around CNBC Africa would have started in the first place.

Of course wrong information and rumours are highly damaging to a brand, and in this case it is CNBC Africa that's being damaged - self-inflicted damage by not doing the bare minimum of what's required when running something like a TV channel: To keep telling the media what you're actually showing.

Earlier this week, asked about rumours about cutting back its local programming during the evenings, Bronwyn Nielsen, executive director of the CNBC Africa told The Media magazine that there's "no truth to these rumours".

On Wednesday morning it was terribly awkward when a bus full of South African journalists and TV critics as well as from Africa who flew in, pulled up at the Westcliff in Johannesburg and bundled out on the steps at the (wrong) door: The one outside where Rakesh Wahi, co-founder of the ABN Group that includes CNBC Africa and Forbes Africa was to punt his book.

While Discovery Networks International was having its 2017 upfront programming on-air talent interviews at the same hotel, the driver accidentally dropped the press at the wrong venue.

Of course journalists who quickly piled back into the bus and rushed to the right Westcliff door, noted the irony of CNBC Africa and Rakesh Wadi doing a book speech event and the All Africa Business Leaders Awards 2016 taking place, but CNBC Africa and ABN not being able to actually communicate with relevant media to tell them anything about it.

Embarrassing. And ongoing lost media opportunities for CNBC Africa that doesn't seem to care.

In 2016 CNBC Africa's viewership in South Africa on DStv remained dismally low compared to other available TV news channels on DStv.

Would perhaps talking about programming and letting the press (and through the media, also viewers) know about what is going to be on, help to lift ratings and draw more viewers? Very possibly.

CNBC Africa did excellent live coverage a few weeks back regarding the Pravin Gordhan saga.

Anchor Chris Bishop was brilliant as CNBC Africa, during the afternoon, suddenly covered the big news of Pravin Gordhan being charged. It was a momentary upflickering of what the great live business news coverage and analysis that CNBC Africa can do and is capable of being.

Sadly, it was again like a forest falling in the CNBC Africa woods.

Not only did CNBC Africa fail on the day and subsequent days to tell the media anything of its coverage plans around the developing news with an utter lack of even a most basic programming note, but viewers also didn't tune to the channel but to general news channels to follow the news developments.

So far has CNBC Africa apparently slid back, that it's not thought of as a top-of-mind tune-to channel in the case of big business news breaking.

More viewers followed the Pravin Gordhan news and rolling analysis on channels like eNCA and ANN7, although CNBC Africa arguably had a strong(er?) content offering on the story.

While CNBC Africa tries to cover things like the World Economic Forum in Kigali and roll out all kinds of sponsor-branded programming, it constantly fails to close the loop by actually promoting and publicising that content through letting the media know about it, so it can be watched.

CNBC Africa that turned 9 this year, in its past, at times, did communicate schedules and programming notes and show highlights and anchor changes and new presenter additions and programming specials to the press.

It did know how and made some effort and also thought it was worth the effort.

Sadly not the CNBC Africa of today.

In 2017 it will be a decade since I attended the launch event of CNBC Africa in Cape Town 10 years ago as a journalist and as a TV critic eager to cover and report on and tell the ongoing CNBC Africa story and its programming.

With little help from CNBC Africa, especially over the past few years, the task and journey - especially from a TV critic's perspective - has been very disappointing.

Piracy fears grow as Jeremy Clarkson's new car show The Grand Tour launches but isn't available for watching in South Africa or Africa.

Television piracy fears are growing over Jeremy Clarkson's new Top Gear like car show The Grand Tour that just rolled out its first episode but isn't available in South Africa or anywhere in Africa but already flooding piracy sites.

The fear is that when The Grand Tour - the new car show produced for Amazon with the former Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May - do eventually become available in South Africa and across Africa, that most ardent fans and viewers who are interested in it, will have already found a way to watch it anyway.

M-Net that didn manage to acquire other Amazon produced shows like Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent told TVwithThinus on Thursday that it hasn't acquired The Grand Tour, meaning the show won't be available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

With no word from subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services Netflix or ShowMax about The Grand Tour, and Amazon being coy about which further countries it will be launching its Amazon Video Prime VOD service in, it's highly likely that the mostly male viewership courted by the show will watch The Grand Tour long before Amazon Video Prime launches in South Africa - if it does.

Amazon Video Prime is set to launch in a further 200 countries in December and switched on in Australia last night, but it's unclear whether South Africa is part of the list that will get the service. Netflix is currently available in 190 countries.

Part of the first season of The Grand Tour - releasing one episode per week on Amazon Video Prime since yesterday - is an episode filmed earlier this year in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This South African episode that will be become available next week Friday and following the debut episode set in California's desert, will be the second episode of the new series.

While BBC Worldwide's failed reset Top Gear seen earlier this year on BBC Brit (DStv 120) with Chris Evans was panned by critics and viewers alike and saw the host quit as ratings plummeted, The Grand Tour that Amazon spent millions on, looks like an instant hit while critics are back raving about Jezza and car company.

Forbes describes The Grand Tour as "really Top Gear on steroids" while The Telegraph raved that "the production values are as mind-blowing as billed" as describing the show as not "yet five minutes in and already Top Gear had been thoroughly trumped".

"The new series will certainly go some way towards obliterating memories of Top Gear's terrible Chris Evans fronted relaunch," said The Telegraph, noting that "Petrolheads can rejoice. The BBC may wonder how Matt LeBlanc and whoever joins him next year can possibly compete".

The Guardian says "Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond prove they can still make a spectacle – and keep the petrolheads happy".

USA Today notes that The Grand Tour is "ambitious".

With good reviews and a passionate fanbase for The Grand Tour, if Amazon Video Prime does launch in South Africa sometime in December, it might be too late for the Amazon Studios produced show to actually cash in on viewers.

If The Grand Tour does become available to South African viewers it will be after the show's international launch date and episode roll-out schedule, while a growing number of South African and African consumers with broadband access over the past three years have turned to other ways of finding TV downloads if a show isn't broadcast or made available legally in the territory.

DStv dumps the [ED] educational and documentary channel from Kagiso Media's Urban Brew Studios after 3 years following disappointing viewership.

MultiChoice is dumping the [ED] educational and documentary channel from its DStv and GOtv satellite pay-TV platforms in South Africa and across Africa after three years, following a lackluster performance from the Urban Brew Studios produced and packaged channel.

DStv will shut [ED] (DStv 190) down at midnight at the end of this month at midnight on Wednesday 30 November - just shy of three years on the air since it launched on 10 December 2013.

The shuttering of the [ED] channel follows MultiChoice's removal of channels from DStv like AMC, BET2, CBS Action, CBS Drama and True Movies over the past year and terminating the M-Net Movies Comedy, M-Net Movies Family and M-Net Movies Romance channels all as part of ongoing content consolidation plans.

[ED], the first channel owned by Kagiso Media's Urban Brew, at launch in 2013 touted that it would be a locally packaged educational channel specialising in "high-end" international and local documentaries and educational TV content.

After a year on air, in December 2014, [ED] announced a revamp in its offering with a raft of locally-produced series and new faces to anchor its local content offering, but it didn't help lift viewership.

[ED] struggled to gain traction and viewership despite being made available beyond South Africa on MultiChoice's GOtv platform across Africa and is now being axed after MultiChoice decided not to renew the contract.

Since [ED] is not available on eMedia Investment's OpenView HD platform from Platco Digital or StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media's (ODM) StarSat, the termination of the channel on DStv means its shutting down completely.

It means the end of locally produced programming like the well-received Ayanda's Fashion House, and shows like the technology programme EDGE, The Criselda Dudumashe Show and #myopinion, while [ED] since 2015 also started covering and bringing viewers a unique first-hand look at South African film festivals and TV markets ranging from DISCOP in Johannesburg to the Durban International Film Festival.

"Thanks to our loyal [ED] valued viewers and advertisers for their continued support over the years," says Roberto Carletti, [ED] station manager. "Through our content, our viewers have remained curious and been inspired".

Minnie Dlamini turns Tropika's TV paradise into hell as conflict erupts in the Seychelles after presenter discovers producers' plan to give her a co-host.

Presenter Minnie Dlamini has turned Tropika's TV paradise into living hell for the producers with her alleged diva demands and fighting in front of the contestants.

The advertiser-funded show's upcoming season on SABC3 started filming last week in the Seychelles.

Minnie Dlamini abruptly resigned as the co-presenter on SABC1's SoccerZone two weeks ago after jetting off to the Seychelles to present Clover's revived Tropika Island of Treasure.

The show is filming its 7th season and will jump from SABC1 to SABC3 when it is broadcast in March 2017, courting a more upmarket and sophisticated consumer audience. 

Sunday World reports that the embattled Tropika Island of Treasure producers went as far as eventually reaching out to the SABC to try and salvage the situation when Minnie Dlamini allegedly refused to come to an agreement over production issues that threatened to shipwreck the show running on a very tight production schedule.

Sponsor Clover, running the revived TV show under its Tropika brand, and the producers allegedly became fed up with Minnie Dlamini's diva demands.

Already on a tight production budget, the show's producers bristled when Minnie Dlamini demanded that her entourage accompany her to the Seychelles a day before she was supposed to fly from South Africa to the island paradise. She wanted her own stylist and social media team to go with her as well.

Minnie Dlamini allegedly went ballistic in the Seychelles when she found out that the Tropika Island of Treasure producers had decided to tweak the show format and add a co-presenter.

The production earlier this year announced that Jonathan Boynton-Lee, a presenter on SABC3's Top Billing will be brought in in the new role of Games Master on the 7th season of Tropika Island of Treasure who will encourage and talk the various teams through the challenges that will include physical and mental puzzles.

Minnie Dlamini had no problem with that. 

She was however angered when she discovered, after arriving in the Seychelles, that Cardova Productions wanted to add a full co-presenter with whom she would have to share the spotlight.

Conflict erupted since Minnie Dlamini who co-hosted on SoccerZone, doesn't want a co-presenter.

In a statement Minnie Dlamini says "Cardova and Tropika offered me the sole hosting position of the upcoming season which I signed on for. I specifically asked not to be considered if they were looking for two presenters."

"The last minute they wanted to introduce a co-host which I refused as per the initial agreement. There was conflict on the island as a result," says Minnie Dlamini.

According to the producers Minnie Dlamini got her way to take her own hair stylist along to the Seychelles but the request for a social media team was axed since the show already organised social media people to document the activities.

National Geographic embarks on a spectacular journey to MARS in an audacious new 6-part space adventure drama starting Sunday at 8:05pm.

Viewers who loved Matt Damon in the film The Martian will enjoy the new 6-part series with documentary elements, MARS, starting this Sunday at 20:05pm on National Geographic (DStv 181), a fictional drama about mankind’s first manned mission to the red planet in 2033.

The harrowing first attempt to colonise Mars is not a documentary series but a fictional drama just like The Martian, interspliced with time jumps to 2016 as real scientists and innovators discuss the various challenges of reaching and possibly establishing a manned scientific base on Mars.

Executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard of Imagine Entertainment, MARS as a scripted feature-quality drama on National Geographic shows the dramatic setbacks and successes when a crew embarks on their Mars mission and immediately run into problems.

Filmed earlier this year in Budapest and Morocco, the Daedalus spacecraft encounters problems before it even reaches space.

The crew – with mission commander Ben Sawyer (Ben Cotton), a Korean American mission pilot, a Spanish hydrologist and geochemist, a French doctor and biochemist, a Nigerian mechanical engineer and roboticist, A British nuclear physicist and a world-renowned experimental botanist – very quickly run into scary problems.

Will they find traces of life on Mars? Will they make surprising discoveries? And most of all: Will all or even just some of them be able to survive?

Ron Howard says the idea with MARS for National Geographic is "to bring the quest to go to Mars to life in a really dramatic and cinematic way".

The scripted story of MARS is based on real-world science, with the writers and production designers who worked with an extensive team of experts and NASA to get not just the science as accurate as possible but also the visual look of things like the Daedalus spaceship design, the spacesuits and the Olympus Town habitat settlement.

MARS has an unprecedented collection of interviews with authors as well as NASA experts and other scientists working to find solutions to the myriad challenges facing a possible Mars mission, including the South African innovator Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX. 

'It's what we do as humans, we explore things'

"The time we are living in now is unique and we should be privileged to live now," says dr Adriana Marais.

The South African scientist is one of Africa's astronaut candidates – and one of 100 left globally – selected to possibly become one of the people to go on a real Mars mission as part of the Mars One project.

"Only 580 people or so have ever been to space. In the next decade or two – and we're lucky enough to watch this happening – we are going to explore space further than ever before," said Adriana Marais.

"Since the beginning of time humans have been moving around, finding new places to live, and staying there. My ancestors came to South Africa in 1688. I still live in Cape Town."

"I believe in a thousand years’ time there will be humans on Mars, talking about that perilous journey that their ancestors made from Earth, on that rickety rocket, that wasn't guaranteed to arrive at all, in the early 21st century," said Adriana Marais.

"Never underestimate the power of getting out of your comfort zone. It's always because you made a leap. You went out into the unknown. You went out on a limb."

"You went out with those people you didn’t know. You made new friends. You went to that place you’ve never been to before. You learnt about that place and it changed you."

"And it's what we do as humans. We explore the things we don’t understand yet and we try to solve problems," said Adriana Marais.

"Earth is unique. A lot of planets are barren; lifeless. Earth is not. We should do everything we can to protect Earth. And maybe leaving Earth will be the only way we will realise this."

M-NET AT 30: M-Net celebrates 30 years as pay-TV broadcaster with special stars and Trevor Noah.

On Thursday night a phalanx of stars – from TV talent and media, to TV executives, politicians and musicians – from across the entire Africa showed up at pay-TV broadcaster M-Net's dazzling 30th birthday celebration.

Toasting with Moët & Chandon champagne as massive surround sound video walls replayed iconic M-Net nostalgia ranging from beloved yesteryear M-Net and SuperSport theme songs to modern day TV magic, guests inside the massive marquee tent at MultiChoice City in Randburg "ooh"-ed and "aah"-ed at three decades of unforgettable television entertainment.

Afropop star Claire Johnston from Mango Groove sang "Special Star" as guests tucked away at everything from smoked salmon trout and nordic shrimp to beef mignon with potatoes, followed by a dessert and cheese emporium.

Following a magical exhibition of M-Net highlights over the past 30 years in the MultiChoice City atrium, guests watched in delight as M-Net, that dug deep into its video vault archive, took attendees on a "remember that?" visual journey of sound and colour through its iconic programming of the past three decades.

Other performers included The Voice SA winner Richard Stirton, former Idols winner, Khaya Mthethwa, and The Voice SA coach Kahn Morbee of The Parlotones.

African songbird Lira, moved the audience with several songs including an emotional In Memorian tribute to all the people who've worked to bring the M-Net magic over the past 30 years and who had passed away as their names flashed across the giant screens.

'The magic is in the stories we tell'

The South African comedian Trevor Noah, now host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, appeared in a recorded stand-up act throughout the night as a hologram projection and said M-Net didn't stop with just one TV channel when it launched in October 1986 "but thought about the whole African continent".

"M-Net is an African show, this is an African channel and they took it out there. And you've got different magic now – not just Mzansi Magic. You've got Maisha Magic Bongo, Maisha Magic and Africa Magic!"

Trevor Noah said while Americans have and know "ketchup" as tomato sauce, South Africans and Africans know and love DStv Catch Up – MultiChoice’s TV on demand video service.

"We’re going to be watching on our phones, we're going to be watching on our laptops. We don't even know what TV of the future will be. For all we know it's going to be on the inside of our eyes."

"But the most most important thing , and you know this if you're an African," said Trevor Noah, "is that the story will always remain the most important thing – and I'm glad that M-Net invest in the community and are producing the content that people really want to see. TV is merely a platform but the magic is in the stories that we tell."

Ferdinand Rabie, the first winner of Big Brother South Africa, told TVwithThinus that "I just want to thank M-Net who ensured that when I was a high school laaitie that M-Net always ensured that there was something to watch on a Sunday evening when you’re in school res after a wonderful weekend. And thanks for throwing me out there and giving exposure with Big Brother!"

Bob van Dijk, Naspers CEO said M-Net’s "profound success" wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the media and stakeholders without whom “M-Net could have never been what it is today”.

Yolisa Phahle, M-Net CEO said "M-Net is a proudly African company committed to telling the best international and African stories."

"But the company's greatest achievement is the remarkable and diverse group of people who bring this enduring brand to life in so many ways each day. To make real magic you have to believe in it, so thank you to everyone for choosing to believe."

'M-Net has helped to give Africa a different voice'

Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, M-Net's regional director for West Africa, told TVwithThinus "congratulations M-Net, they've achieved a lot in three decades, investing in talent and telling African stories in a unique way".

"Local language is a big thing. My part of M-Net is looking after Africa. A lot in investment has gone into talent and building talent. We've got big shows like Tinsel going into its 10th season. It's a huge investment. M-Net has helped to give Africa a different voice; to help people see Africa in a different light."

"Africa isn't doom and gloom. There's tremendous talent in Africa and M-Net Africa helps to showcase the talent in front of and behind the screen and I’m personally so proud to work for M-Net and to manage the Africa Magic brand."

Lalla Hirayama, the face of M-Net Movies and presenter of Lalla Land said "Happy, happy birthday M-Net! You’re such an incredible force in African television the past three decades. To be part of a brand that’s delivered so much magic to the homes of South Africans is such an honour. God bless you and may we see another 60, 90 years of magic!”

Gideon Khobane, SuperSport CEO told TVwithThinus on Thursday night that “M-Net changed all our lives. When I was young we watched Open Time. Then we got a decoder. Then started working and got DStv. It’s been the pinnacle of entertainment”.

“I’ve worked at SABC and when I was there I said to myself one day I want to work at M-Net. And then I’ve been fortunate enough to work at M-Net. Now I’m at SuperSport and SuperSport was M-Net’s baby. So congratulation and all the best for another 30 years”.

The minister of communication Faith Muthambi said M-Net introduced reality TV with shows like Big Brother, Idols, Survivor SA. “The original channels and shows it created reflects the diversity of languages and tastes of viewers. M-Net has made a huge investment in talent and industry to create this magic.”

Nolo Letele, MultiChoice South Africa chairperson said “[in] 30 years of history M-Net hasn’t rested on their laurels. They continue to find new formats in broadcasting. They broadcast in local languages. And they invest substantially in local productions. May the magic never stop.”