HE WAS S'GUDI, 'SNAYSI. Veteran actor Joe Mafela (75) dead after car accident in Johannesburg; 'I've never known a nicer man than Joe,' says actress Lilian Dube.

The veteran South African actor Joe Mafela has died. Joe Mafela was 75 and passed away on Saturday night dying at the scene of a car accident on a Johannesburg highway.

The actor, born in 1942 in Sibasa, Limpopo, and most famous for his comedy role in the SABC sitcom 'Sgudi 'Snaysi ("Is Good, is Nice") in life received three Lifetime Achiever Awards - in TV, for stage, and for comedy.

The legendary Joe Mafela died after being involved in a car accident in Johannesburg on Saturday night.

Joe Mafela was currently playing the role of Tebogo Moroka on Generations The Legacy on SABC1 produced by MMSV Productions.

According to police Joe Mafela was involved in a car accident just before 22:00 on Saturday night on the M1 between the Oxford and Houghton Road off-ramps when an Isuzu double cab bakkie and the white Ford Figo that Joe Mafela was driving, was involved in a car crash alongside a construction zone.

Joe Mafela was declared died on the scene of the accident and he was the sole occupant of the Ford Figo. The driver of the Isuzu double cab bakkie was not injured.

Police is investigating and no arrest has been made at the moment. The police said a charge of culpable homicide is being investigated.

Police said Joe Mafela's death could also be the result of an existing medical condition.

Besides his comedic work, Joe Mafela was a producer and director as well as an ad agency creative director in later years, as well as a Zulu singer, producing and releasing several Zulu-language albums.

Joe Mafela who could speak all of South African's 11 languages, became the first black assistant director in South Africa and in 1974 Joe Mafela appeared in South Africa's first all-black movie made in South Africa, Udeliwe.

It was however his role as the constantly scheming S'dumo in the 78-episode Zulu SABC sitcom 'Sgudi 'Snaysi - at a time that the Apartheid-era SABC would only show him on TV2, its channel for black viewers - that catapulted Joe Mafela to stardom and made him a household name and endeared him to millions of viewers with repeated rebroadcasts over decades.

It's here where Joe Mafela developed a strong professional relationship with Roberta Durrant from Penguin Films that saw him become Penguin Films co-owner and going on - and up - to not just produce but also appear in further Penguin Films produced TV projects.

Joe Mafela's other long-running and stand-out TV role - also in a Penguin Films produced production for the SABC - was for instance as Jabu in the lawyer office set sitcom Going Up.

He did a type of "retake" decades later when he starred in an almost similar kind of role as in 'Sgudi 'Snaysi and Going Up as Sol in e.tv's Madam & Eve sitcom in 2000, also produced by Penguin Films.

In 2004, in a show that was before it's time and a send-up of his famous persona, Joe Mafela returned to post-Apartheid SABC for a short-lived TV comedy, Fela's TV, in which a cleaner at a fictional TV broadcaster - although clearly depicting the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters - at night time "stole" the airwaves and swopped his bucket and mop to broadcast a TV show.

Joe Mafela was the creator and singer of the "It's good, good, good, it's good, it's nice" TV advert jingle of the fast food outlet Chicken Licken in 1986.

Joe Mafela received the Lifetime Achiever Award in 2015 a the 5th Annual Comics Choice Awards, saying that it meant he had "done a good job during the years. Whatever was demanded of me, it means I really produced".

Besides his lifetime achievement award at the Comics Choice Awards, Joe Mafela also received a special Duku Duku award in 2004 for his contribution to South Africa's TV industry, and a lifetime achievement award at the Naledi Theatre Awards for his contribution to theatre management in South Africa.

Joe Mafela also received a lifetime achievement award from the South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas) in 2010.

Joe Mafela's father worked as a shop assistant in a Chinese shop in Sophiatown and when Joe Mafela was three years old he left Johannesburg along with his mother, who was expecting her second child.

They returned to Limpopo where his brother was also born and in 1947 Joe Mafela's family moved to Kliptown, south of Johannesburg where they lived for 5 years.

In 1952 they moved to White City Jabavu, a township that was started as temporary shelters and lived there for 5 years before moving to the Tshiawelo township.

When Joe told his dad that he wanted to be an actor his dad said: "No, that's not work. Work is when you go to work at 8am and come back at 5pm". Luckily Joe Mafela followed his own path.

Considered a true groundbreaking legend of South Africa's TV and entertainment industry, Joe Mafela straddled both the "old" and the "new" South Africa, with over 40 decades of hard-won pioneering work spanning the country's film, TV, stage, radio and advertising industries.

"We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn about the news of the passing of legendary actor, director and musician ubaba Joe Mafela," said Nathi Mthethwa, South Africa's minister of arts and culture.

"We extend our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of ubaba Joe Mafela, the nation has lost a crown jewel of our arts and culture."

Sello Hatang, The Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO told eNCA (DStv 403) that "In his memory, may the entertainment industry become what he wanted it to be - one that cares about those who act in it, one that wants people to thrive in it; that people shouldn't die poor while they're practising the craft that they believe in".

"The most important thing with Joe Mafela's death is, what do we need to do to ensure that our artists never die poor?" said Sello Hatang.

"We have learned with sadness of the passing of one of the pioneers of the television comedy loved by all South Africans young and old," said South Africa president Jacob Zuma in a statement.

"Joe Mafela also affectionately known as Sdumo was also a television producer and songwriter.  The arts and culture industry has been robbed of a bigger than life figure.  We wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to Mafela family and may his soul rest in peace".

The SABC in a statement with mistakes like referring to Madam & Eve as SABC programming [it was done by Penguin Films for e.tv] said the public broadcaster is "saddened to learn of the sudden passing of arts veteran Joe Mafela. Joe Mafela was a giant in his field and had become a voice and face of the industry."

"The multi-talented Joe Mafela, who was also known as a  singer/songwriter and producer and who recently appeared on SABC1 soap Generations: The Legacy, will be remembered for his memorable acting roles in TV shows such as the hugely popular 'Sgudi 'Snaysi , where he portrayed the character 'Sdumo' a nickname which stuck with him through the years."

"The SABC sends its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, viewers and fans who have followed his esteemed career, in TV, stage and film over the past 40 years."

"I've never known a nicer man than Joe," said actress and longtime friend Lilian Dube on Sunday. "He gave and gave".

Lilian Dube revealed that the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) organising the Saftas that took place on Saturday evening didn't want to invite Joe Mafela or herself to the award show, how they are being "marginalised" as actors, and that she spoke with him on Saturday.

"We were even speaking about the Saftas to which he wasn't invited, I wasn't invited and we said you know, Joe? We do what we do because we love it. Whether we get invited to the Saftas or not."

NIGHTY-NIGHT. Co-anchor duo Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti are both leaving eNCA's flagship NewsNight and prime time - here's why.

It's over for the best co-anchor TV news duo on South African television with Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti on eNCA not just leaving their seats behind the NewsNight oval glass desk and next to each other but also getting out of prime time after they've both had enough.

The dismantling of how eNCA (DStv 403) used to look and what it used to be continues with the co-anchors of its flagship nightly news broadcast, Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti both leaving NewsNight by the end of next month.

The widely respected news duo have been eNCA's co-joined prime time faces for the past five years, with their imminent big exit being the latest visible eNCA on-air disruption, part of the ongoing sea change taking place behind-the-scenes at the eMedia Investment run channel.

eNCA (DStv 403) hasn't named an anchor replacement or replacements for the nightly two and a half hour show done from e.tv's Hyde Park newsplex in Johannesburg in which Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti showed and shared great personal on-air rapport.

The beloved duo's on-air chemistry in the age of 24-hour TV news channels was exceptionally rare - especially for often-dull and dry, cookie cutter South African television news broadcasts and harkened back to the heydey of when M-Net's Carte Blanche with co-hosts Derek Watts and Ruda Landman would successfully banter with each other in a way that drew viewers more than into just a show, but into a news conversation.

"Both Jeremy and Iman have been key to the success of eNCA," says Mapi Mhlangu, eNCA news director. "We thank them for their loyalty, hard work and brilliance in bringing powerful news stories to our screens. This is a big change for the channel and our viewers, but also an opportunity to showcase talent in our newsroom and beyond".

Jeremy Maggs, the former Who Wants to be a Millionaire? SA host, who anchored NewsNight since its debut on eNCA 9 years ago, asked to be moved to an earlier timeslot on the channel.

Jeremy Maggs will be anchoring the lunchtime show Newsday from May that used to be done from Cape Town for years before eNCA management abruptly downsized the newsblock's operation by firing staff and moving the show to Johannesburg since November 2016.

Jeremy Maggs will also continue to do his marketing, media and advertising magazine show Maggs on Media broadcast on Sundays on eNCA.

Iman Rappetti who started out in earlier eNCA timeslots before landing the plum prime time timeslot is exiting eNCA after 11 years to get out of night time for family reasons.

While still the most polished of the three South African TV news channels and boasting the highest viewership under TV news channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, eNCA has been battered the past two years as it scaled down its once lofty news ambitions while it dramatically cut back on current affairs programming, abandoned its attempts at first-hand Africa coverage, shed news staff and reduced its on-air hours of live shows.

Although Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti the past few years often no longer co-anchored together, with both taking solo turns on several weeknights and both abandoning Friday nights on eNCA, NewsNight, despite its faults, remained the best produced general nightly news show on South African television.

eNCA's NewsNight anchor changes come as the struggling Gupta-owned, Infinity Media's ANN7 (DStv 405) rolls along with an unsteady and ever-changing revolving door of prime time anchors, and as the beleaguered SABC's SABC News (DStv 404) channel lost its prime time co-anchor Vabakshnee Chetty-Miller in January this year next to Peter Ndoro after she emigrated to America following the birth of her first child and maternity leave.

"It has been a heady, tough, rewarding, crazy ride," says Iman Rappetti. "Thank you for the gifts of professionalism, a platform to shine and unwavering support. The decision to leave is not an easy one but I need to put my family first."

Anton Harber, eNCA editor-in-chief says "Iman has contributed enormously to our success and is part of our channel's history. We are very sad to see her go".

Jeremy Maggs says that "after anchoring well over 1 000 editions of NewsNight it's high time I pass on the baton to a new team and get home a little earlier in the evening".

"I've been in discussion with the channel about this move for the past year and management has been both understanding and sensitive to my need for a change. I want to pay special tribute to Iman, my co-host for the past five years. Every night on-air together has been a treat".

SHOCKER. SABC admits its facing a new cash crisis, says SABC staff could be retrenched, SABC News and SABC Encore channels on DStv now 'jeopardised'.

The beleaguered SABC is suddenly admitting that it's facing a new cash crisis and warns in a statement that staff retrenchments could be on the cards at the public broadcaster that now admits that it is funding operations out of its already low cash reserves that’s dwindling fast.

The SABC is also warning that the sustainability of its controversial SABC News and SABC Encore channels it supplies to MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform is now suddenly "jeopardised".

The struggling SABC is mired in allegations of mismanagement, maladministration and corruption and largely rudderless after the gutting of the SABC board and the firing of swathes of top executives with no permanent CEO or COO.

The SABC is now blaming its cauldron's brew of negative and sensational news bubbling forth since late December in parliament's ad hoc committee investigating the SABC for a drop in revenue and the SABC's cash balance that's supposed to be held steady at R650 million per month.

The shocking and lurid stories coming from those who testified before parliament's ad hoc committee, apparently scared not just advertisers away, but jeopardised deals being negotiated and caused fewer people to pay their SABC TV licences.

The inquiry's final report that was adopted last week Tuesday, found that all of the SABC's "questionable transactions" should be investigated and probed by forensic audit like the SABC MultiChoice deal, and for a review of the feasibility of The New Age breakfast briefings.

By December the loss-making SABC's cash reserves plunged to just R174 million, with the SABC now saying that it had warned the government repeatedly that it's not getting enough money from the government.

The SABC now confirms a new cash crisis as Auckland Park’s Fawlty Towers is once again hovering close to the financial crisis in 2009 that saw the SABC come to the brink of financial collapse. 

This crisis triggered a government bail-out in the form of a R1.4 billion government guaranteed Nedbank bank loan. Now the SABC’s is once again dangerously close to running out of money.

'Activities now funded from reserves’

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago admitted in a press statement on Thursday that the SABC's revenue is "under pressure with the SABC now funding its activities from its reserves".

Kaizer Kganyago now says that "the SABC cautioned that the collapse of its finances was imminent if due care was not exercised in dealing with the confidentiality of contracts with its strategic partners".

Kaizer Kganyago says that "continuous attacks on the SABC" could now lead to retrenchment of SABC staff and that the SABC suffered a significant drop in advertising income.

The sustainability of the SABC News and SABC Encore channels on DStv are now also "jeopardised" according to the SABC, meaning the future fate of these controversial channels are uncertain.

The SABC's new interim board, their appointment waiting to be rubber-stamped by president Jacob Zuma, will have to try and save the sinking public broadcasting ship.

The SABC recorded yet another – and growing – loss of R411 in the 2015/2016 financial year and posted a loss of R256 million for the second quarter of 2016. The SABC is on track to likely post yet another annual loss later this year.

WHO KNEW? Brand de Villiers in as new MultiChoice Africa CEO and Tim Jacobs out as yet another 'pale male' heads up Naspers' Africa pay-TV division.

It wasn't publicly announced when it happened from January 2017, nor was there any stepping down, goodbye statement, but Brand de Villiers has taken over as new MultiChoice Africa CEO following the quiet exit of Tim Jacobs at the end of 2016 at Naspers' pay-TV division for Africa.

The replacement raises questions about MultiChoice Africa's top management transformation - or perceived lack of it - as yet another white male executive in a succession of "pale males" has taken over the number one executive position to look after MultiChoice's sprawling Africa pay-TV business division.

Eben Greyling was MultiChoice Africa CEO, followed by Collins Khumalo for a little bit who decided to "take a break". 

Nico Meyer who then started as MultiChoice Africa CEO in February 2012, left in April 2015 "for personal reasons". He was replaced in turn by Tim Jacobs who left just over a year and a half later in December 2016 "for family reasons".

In all that time - spanning almost a decade - MultiChoice Africa doesn't seem to have adequately nurtured, prepared and corporately laddered up internally, new executive management talent in whom it has enough confidence to fill the MultiChoice Africa CEO role within a black economic empowerment (BEE) perspective.

Now Brand de Villiers is the new boss of MultiChoice Africa since January 2017.

Brand de Villiers of course defected from the Premier League Soccer where he was PSL CEO in late 2015 to become MultiChoice's new general manager for strategy and special projects.

MultiChoice Africa says Tim Jacobs stepped down from the position as MultiChoice Africa CEO in January for family reasons as he decided to re-locate back to South Africa from Dubai.

Brand de Villiers has been running the operations of MultiChoice Africa for just over a year.

MultiChoice Africa in a statement says "MultiChoice Africa is delighted to announce the appointment of Brand de Villiers as CEO based in Dubai."

"He joined the business in November 2015 as strategy and special projects director and has been a driving force in enabling the business to respond to dynamic and complex environment in 49 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa."

"Brand de Villiers is a chartered accountant having held positions as CEO of the PSL and the Marc Group who own Sail, EXP as well as shareholdings in rugby teams such as the Blue Bulls and Western Province."

DStv GIVES THANKS. MultiChoice launches new loyalty programme, DStv Thanks for DStv subscribers across Africa, excluding South Africa.

MultiChoice has launched a new loyalty programme called DStv Thanks across the rest of Africa - excluding South Africa - with DStv subscribers who will be getting access to additional TV channels for free, if they remain subscribed for at least 3 months.

MultiChoice that doesn't currently have plans to introduce DStv Thanks in South Africa, is implementing the new loyalty programme as only South African DStv subscribers will see price hikes introduced from 1 April, with no apparent DStv and GOtv subscription increases for the most of Africa this year, besides minimal price increases for Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland.

MultiChoice Africa is feeling the pinch and churn as subscribers in stalling economies from Zimbabwe to Kenya and from Botswana to Nigeria have been vocal about their struggles to afford DStv and GOtv.

At the same time pay-TV rivals from China StarTimes to Zuku TV and Econet Media's newly introduced Kwesé TV are all ferociously competing to sign up and retain subscription television customers in Africa's growing direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV market.

With Tim Jacobs gone as MultiChoice Africa CEO and replaced by Brand de Villiers in the position since January this year, MultiChoice's African division has now launched DStv Thanks and GOtv Wow to reward subscribers who remain connected to DStv and GOtv for at least 3 months.

According to MultiChoice the first reward is access to additional entertainment TV channels - like for instance Zee Bollymovies, Viasat Life and AfricaXP's new male-focused Trigger channel - offered for free to subscribers in various African countries who remain connected for 3 months or longer. There will also be "monthly airtime bonuses".

"When putting together this rewards programme, we analysed the best global rewards practices, as well as what our customers love about the DStv brands," says MultiChoice in a statement slightly adjusted per African country where DStv Thanks was announced.

"The rewards offered had to provide greater value to our loyal customers beyond the normal, while also providing more motivation to stay loyal to our platform".

"We're confident that the rewards we have lined up for DStv Thanks now and in the future will not only enhance our customers' television viewing experience but also solidify their connection to our platforms."

SABC acting CEO James Aguma tells parliament that the SABC wants its news sponsored; warns of 'serious problem' if news can't find sponsor.

The SABC's acting CEO James Aguma says the South African public broadcaster wants the news that it broadcast to be sponsored although the SABC is actually prohibited from doing this by the broadcasting regulator.

The SABC as South Africa's public broadcaster is mandated, according to its editorial policy and according to its licence conditions from the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), to provide news that is fair, balanced and objective and not commercially sponsored.

The SABC own editorial policy states that "we do not allow advertising, commercial, political or personal considerations to influence our editorial considerations" and that the SABC is required to "report news truthfully, accurately and objectively".

"Sponsorship of television news and current affairs has been prohibited by Icasa, and is therefore not allowed by the SABC," states the SABC’s editorial policy.

"Weather forecasts and sports bulletins that form part of TV news bulletins may be sponsored. Any product placement within news and current affairs programmes is strictly forbidden".

James Aguma told parliament's portfolio committee on communications about "the serious problem" if SABC news isn't sponsored, saying that "it implies that we are going to run an operation without funds".

"That explains – and there's been a lot of talk about the SABC MultiChoice channels contract – why SABC News (DStv 404) is funded through a strategic partnership".

"Because it's those funds that we need to cover that [news] operation. The SABC's normal news department is sustainable. What we need to do, is to ensure that the revenue growth and the cost – the growth is higher than the cost," said James Aguma.

"Unfortunately, if 85% of your revenue arises from advertising, then you are open to market forces. And we know that market forces are changing consumption patterns. People are consuming content now on digital."

"Those are some of the reasons why certain contracts were signed because we realised its time now to shift aggressively towards the digital space. And that's something that we prefer to keep, you know, keep under wraps. But the issue is it's a strategic choice because we are seeing a funding gap on trying to sell content on this traditional platforms," he said.

In late December 2016 parliament's ad hoc committee investigating maladministration at the SABC heard several allegations of how the Gupta-owned The New Age wanted to take over the running of the SABC's news operations.

The committee heard allegations of how the SABC is bleeding cash on production costs to run the controversial The New Age sponsored "breakfast briefings" broadcast on Morning Live on the SABC2 and SABC News channels.

The inquiry's final report, adopted last week Tuesday by parliament, found that all of the SABC's "questionable transactions" should be investigated and probed by forensic audit like the SABC MultiChoice deal, and for a review of the feasibility of The New Age breakfast briefings.

Khanyisile Kweyama recommended as new SABC chairperson of the to be appointed interim SABC board.

Khanyisile Kweyama has been recommended in an urgent meeting by parliament's parliament's portfolio committee on communications to become the new SABC chairperson of the to be appointed SABC interim board.

The beleaguered SABC, mired in allegations of corruption, mismanagement and maladministration has been left rudderless for months.

The SABC has been without any SABC board or board members, no permanent CEO and COO for months and has been absolutely gutted after the firing of numerous top executives who are all gone after the sprawling internal management destruction wreaked inside the public broadcaster by the controversial former COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The respected veteran journalist and former newspaper editor Mathatha Tsedu were recommended as deputy SABC chairperson, while Krish Naidoo, Febe Potgieter-Gqubule and John Mattison were recommended as interim SABC board members.

Krish Naidoo is a former SABC board member. He resigned spectacularly and with dramatic effect in late December 2016 in parliament during parliament's investigation into the shocking maladministration of the SABC and made several damning revelations about the SABC's flouting of corporate governance requirements.

Veteran journalist and editor John Mattison is a former broadcasting regulator councillor and responsible for the SABC's election coverage in 1994.

Khanyisile Kweyama who has a masters degree in management from Wits university, is the former CEO of Business Unity South Africa (Busa) and a former executive director of Anglo American SA, the first woman to hold such position at that company, and a former Telkom board member.

Khanyisile Kweyama also served on the National Planning Commission appointed by the president and served on a provincial group fighting racism in Gauteng, appointed by the Gauteng premier.

What happens now is that the portfolio committee on communication's report, recommending the interim SABC chairperson and interim SABC board members, is sent to the National Assembly.

On Wednesday the report is tabled at the National Assembly, after which it is sent to president Jacob Zuma to basically rubber-stamp and approve the appointments, making it official.

Adrian Pilkington appointed senior vice president for commercial strategy at A+E Networks UK looking after Africa.

Adrian Pilkington has been appointed as the senior vice president commercial strategy & general Manager for the Nordic, Benelux, Middle East and Africa region at A+E Networks UK.

A+E Networks UK runs channels like Lifetime, History, Crime+Investigation on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in South Africa and across Africa.

Adrian Pilkington will report to Dean Possenniskie.

Adrian Pilkington will be responsible for the A+E Networks UK's commercial strategy, including channel distribution, digital distribution and ad sales.

He will also serve as general manager for the Nordics, the Benelux, Middle East and Africa and oversee the company's offices and local teams in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and in Johannesburg, South Africa.

kykNET promises more shirtless men in soaps: 'Actors ordered to take off their shirts as often as possible' as kykNET ramps up drama and comedy output.

kykNET has ordered the guys to ditch the shirts and is ordering a lot more male shirtless scenes for its weekday soaps as M-Net's Afrikaans channels division is also dramatically ramping up its drama and comedy content output.

Besides more Afrikaans male soap stars pushed to bare their six packs, kykNET is doubling its amount of drama content and tripling the amount of comedy produced for its channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in the upcoming months.

In Suidooster on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) it took actor Eden Classens who just joined the Cape Town set soap just two scenes to bare his body.



"New actors have been ordered to take off their shirts and to go shirtless as often as possible to give kykNET good ratings," said Nicola van Niekerk, kykNET's head of production.

Making the remark about more male shirtlessness in kykNET soaps in jest, she spoke to the media about some of kykNET's upcoming content slate and its increased Afrikaans content plans over the next year.

And while the men might be losing the shirts off their backs, with kykNET - as far as content is concerned - the channel says things have never been better.

"In the next 12 months, kykNET will bring DStv subscribers double the amount of drama content and triple the amount of comedy than before," said Nicola van Niekerk. "Content wise, things have never gone as well with kykNET as now."

Coming up is a second season of the Afrikaans drama series Boekklub in July and in October is anther new series entitled Waterfront.

"We struggled between channels about whose going to produce this show. The story is unbelievable and kykNET won and is doing it in Afrikaans. Filming will start around July and August to be ready by October."

"Comedy wise we have Phil 101 starting in April. Phil 101, is set at a fictional university's philosophy department with Frank Opperman and Pierre van Pletzen who viewers for the first time in a long time will see as a character other than 7de Laan's Oubaas, and he is a hero, together will all the new talent"," said Nicola van Niekerk.

Sara se Geheim is starting on 11 April at 20:00, a new Afrikaans drama series with 26 episodes in which the past comes back to haunt the Cloete, Kiewiet and Vermeulen families and starring June van Merch, David Minnaar, Lee-Ann van Rooi, Brendon Daniels. Marlo Minnaar and Nicola Hanekom.

"Then in July on kykNET we have Elke Skewe Pot that we're currently busy filming. It's about four old spinsters struggling to find love and then they start a dating website."

"Soaps wise, I'm a big fan. In Binnelanders a lot of drama is waiting for a pregnant Pippa. She's been through rabies - everything - what else can possibly still happen with her? I hear ghosts are waiting to haunt her. Is doctor Tertius going to finally find love - whether in a nurse's embrace or another doctor?" said Nicola van Niekerk.

"In Getroud met Rugby Sasha is being confronted with an identity crisis. I love soaps because they provide us with characters that every viewer can relate to."

"You come home in the evening and watch your soaps and can relate to the people. It's in our soaps what's happening with South Africa's people and what the Afrikaans community experiences daily".

"But we're not just telling these stories. We also have actuality programming through which we try to give unbiased context to the news to help viewers form their own opinions about the world."

"Then there's our cornerstone programming like Kwêla and Bravo who boasts some of the most beautiful presenters on television. Kwêla in its 17th year covers stories and people that are incredibly special. You can't underestimate the value of a programme like Kwêla"," said Nicola van Niekerk.

The first season of the surprise hit, Varsity Sing, the a capella university choir competition series, will be repeated on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) in April.


Exciting varsity experiment coming to kykNET NOU!
About kykNET NOU! (DStv 146), kykNET's channel that focuses on music shows and programming, Karen Meiring, the M-Net director for Afrikaans channels, said that the viewership on kykNET NOU! is surprisingly not just young people.

"kykNET NOU! has a large number of older viewers watching it. We also focus on a lot of lifestyle and entertainment shows on kykNET NOU! We're also very excited- we're doing an experiment with kykNET NOU! with universities, that we will be talking more about soon, but it's hugely exciting."

"Our core business is to tell stories, and through our stories we want to make an impact on the wide Afrikaans community that we serve," said Karen Meiring.