Bojo Mujo passes away ‘peacefully.’
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
A black weekend for South Africans! While the country is still mourning the passing of fallen political hero, Jackie Lesebi, Mzansi lost yet another two giants in the entertainment industry, Simba Mhere and Bojo Mujo.
Bojo Mujo, real name Jacky Lehlake, passed away in the early hours of Saturday 31 January 2015.
“He passed peacefully at Pretoria 5h00 AM after a short illness surrounded by family… Bojo Mujo’s first love was to make people dance. Although he is no longer with us, his music will live among his fans forever (sic),” Sello Lehlake.
Although Bojo Mujo’s music was widely consumed in townships and rural areas, in fact the talented Deejay once sold an astounding 300 000 units; however his talent was seldom recognized especially in the mainstream media.
But that seemed not to bother the multi-platinum seller. “It does not bother me. Because I am not famous I have the freedom to go wherever I want. I get recognition through my sales and gigs. Fame means I can be in bad mood when I’m in public,” he told Tonight in 2009.
Bojo Mujo was signed to a House Therapy recording label co-owned by Bojo’s brother cry and Andile Ncube.
Aredifefere would like to extend their sincere condolences to the Lehlake family during this difficult time. Their loss is our loss. Re lla le lena.
Culpable homicide charges for Simba Mhere killer.
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
Gone too soon! Today, Saturday 31 January 2014, South Africans woke up to the sad news of the passing of television presenter, Simba Mhere.
The 31-year-old Mhere was involved in a fatal car accident in the early hours of today on his way to the airport. In the car it was him and two other passengers. Only one of the three passengers survived.
Spokesperson Superintendent Edna Mamonyane of the Johannesburg Metro Police was quoted as saying “A VW Polo that had got off the N1in fourways, crossed over the middle island and crashed into Simba’s side. Simba was driving and the strong impact killed Simba and a passenger seated upfront.
“The polo driver will be charged with culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving.”
Simba Mhere was a “gentle, kind and loving person.”
Tilo Ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
Africa is mourning the sudden passing of talented television presenter, Simba Mhere who passed away in the early hours of Saturday 31 January 2014.
Mhere, born Simbarashe, was the presenter of SABC 3 magazine programme, Top Billing. The 31-year-old television personality has since been described as generous and loving.
Lorraine Maisel, from Mhere’s publicity company was quoted in the Mail & Guardian describing the down to earth hunk presenter she knows. “He was going places. I saw him on Thursday… Simba was a gentle, kind and loving person.”
Simba rose to stardom when he won the Top Billing presenter talent search in 2010 and has since won the hearts of many South Africans and also the people from across the world.
Aredifefere would like to extend their heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims during this difficult time.
Ashes to Ashes: Axed Generations stars act on a new 8 PM e-tv soapie.
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
When Mfundi Vundla and the SABC fired the ‘Generations 16 drama queens,’ little did they anticipate the disgruntled actors to go after them, jumping into bed with their enemies.
Emotions ran high. Calls to boycott the soapie were made. Some fans condemned the new Generations. Nonetheless, MMSV productions went ahead to produce what has since been termed as ‘Generations the Legacy’ with Mr Vundla citing that “my loyalty is to my client, SABC, and no one else… I hope I never work with any of them (the fired actors) in the future.”
In what could be seen as one of their many fight back strategies, some of the unceremoniously fired actresses have squeezed their skirts under their panties, while male actors rolling up their sleeves ready for a public show down.
E-tv is set to launch a new telenovela of 104 episodes called ‘Ashes to Ashes’ due to premiere on Monday 2 March. More interestingly, the soapie will play at 8 PM, thus competing for viewers with SABC 1 fragile Generations the Legacy.
Even much better, Ashes to Ashes has roped in one former Generations head writer to help conceptualize and pen down what is set to be the hottest property in the television industry. Patrick Shai who played the role Patrick Tlhaole in Generations has been confirmed as one of the principal cast members.
However, Times Live was able to establish that former Generations actors such as Nambitha Mpumlwana (Mawande), Anga Makubalo (MJ), Mandla Gaduka (Choppa), Maggie Benedict (Akhona) and Zenande Mfenyane (Noluntu) form part of the lineup. Speculation is also rife that Zolisa xaluva (Jason) is set to join the soapie even though the star is reported to be joining Mzansi Magic Zabalaza.
Viewership of sympathy
According to e-tv, the premiere of Ashes to Ashes is the ‘regeneration of the 8 PM slot,’ promising to offer viewers alternative content. For years, television channels were skeptical of producing drama series to compete with Generations but thanks to the August 2014 real life drama, television producers went back to the drawing board.
Many viewers, including Mr TV Police who never watched the so-called Generations the Legacy, are still enraged at how the Generations 16’s situation was handled by the production house and the SABC. Many are looking for alternatives from Generations, and they might just find solace in Ashes to Ashes, thus marveling and sympathizing with their once famous Generations actors.
SABC loses to e-tv
Taking into consideration how jealous the SABC is with their talent, the public broadcaster can be considered the biggest loser. Generations is the leading show in the land. It is by no mistake their actors are the most loved television celebrities in South Africa.
It is unfortunate that the SABC is losing the most sought-after actors to competition, especially to their arch-rival free to air channel, e-tv. First it was Seputla Sebogodi (Kenneth Mashaba) joining Rhythm City and now Patrick Shai and the queen of South African television industry; Nambitha Mpumlwana et al are joining e-tv’s rival soapie, Ashes to Ashes.
Agnes Mukwevho resurrects in Skeem Saam.
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
She was once the big star in one of Msanzi’s most loved soap opera, Muvhango. She grazed our small screens as sassy and yet astute businesswoman, Agnes Mokoena-Mkhize-Mukwevho and later Hadebe.
She was the celebrity to be reckoned with, but of course that was before the pregnancy, nasty divorce rumours in a marriage of only two years and relegation from work. Soon thereafter, in a blink of an eye, Millicent Mothiba (formerly Makhado) disappeared from our eyes.
But now it seems the petite actress has found the greener pastures to revive her acting career. Millicent appeared on Skeem Saam on Monday 26 January in a small role as the university receptionist.
Now that Skeem Saam wants to explore the second world of a modern city and the production will probably have plenty of location shoots around campus in Gauteng, maybe Millicent has found yet another home after Muvhango.
When news of Millicent possibly leaving Muvhango first surfaced, unnamed sources were quoted in the media attributing her fall to the maternity leave she took months after her wedding.
At the time, Muvhango PR Manager, Kgalema Mametse dismissed as unfounded allegations claims that Millicent could soon be leave the soapie.
Referring to Millicent being reduced to a mere call in actor only called to report for work when needed, Mametse said “She’s not the only one. Other actors will also follow suit. But as for her leaving the soapie, that can’t be true.”
Perhaps at the time Sunday Sun ran the story it was just a baseless rumour, but today in 2015 it is safe to say Millicent Mothiba is no longer part of the Tshivenda production, at least that’s how it appears on the ground.
Rhythm City work on your storylines, you won’t need famous faces anymore.
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
The future of e-tv’s prime time soapie, Rhythm City looks uncertain and it seems the production house has the plan to turn things around, or so they think.
SABC 1 educational programme, Skeem Saam, once referred to as the number one soapie in the land, at least by default, is giving Rhythm City a hard time. The Turfloop based soapie stole over a million viewers from Rhythm City when it returned to our small screens at 18:30 as a soapie.
Although Rhythm City is slowly recovering from the set back, but things are not yet back on track. With Skeem Saam previously broadcasted at 8 PM on the number one channel in the land and the soapie is set to move to SABC 2 at 8:30 PM (only for the duration of AFCON) thus enjoying massive viewership yet again, Rhythm City will, once again, be disadvantaged by SABC’s programme reshuffling.
The problem with Rhythm City is not only the broadcast time and competition, but the storylines as well. But Rhythm City probably thinks that roping in the big names in the industry will inevitably make their problems go away.
This is the approach that Muvhango frequently adopts. Although it can be an important tool for attracting new viewers, but it can also backfire and add no value to the production when you take beautiful faces, singers and dancers with no prior acting experience and give them lead and supporting roles.
The original Generations was less concerned with bringing in the big names for cameo and supporting roles. They materialized on their existing talent and developed quality and sustainable storylines for their big stars such as S’busiso Dlomo, Noluntu Memela, Dineo Mashaba, Mawande Memela, Nicolas Nomvete and Jason Dlomo among others and it paid out well.
The role of Thifhelimbilu on Muvhango defied the odds. It showed that you don’t need to be a well known celebrity, light skinned, ‘beautiful’ as defined by the media and speak fluent English for one to keep viewers clued on their small screens. Fheli got talent, she delivered and people got mesmerized. Simple as that, splendid!
The writers of Rhythm City should focus their energies on sorting out their storylines; it’s all over the place. This could be the reason they are forever looking for new celebrity faces to join their production. When you have solid and sustainable storylines, you wouldn’t go around searching for new people to vava-voom the production. Learn from Generations, Scandal and Isidingo. These productions are doing a splendid job in producing quality, sustainable storylines that spark social debate on a constant basis.
Kelly Khumalo: The real queen of controversies.
Today, there’s nothing, completely nothing bad that people and the media can say about Kelly Khumalo that will damage her reputation more than the things that have already been said about her.
Ms Khumalo has seen it all: the virginity scandal, the punani debacle, Jub Jub, emotional and physical abuse, drugs, musical career fiasco, court cases, home-wrecker, dumped a few months before giving birth, being accused of killing Senzo Meyiwa, dating a traditional healer only three months after Senzo’s death, engagement ring, and many other negative encounters.
Kelly is synonymous to controversy. Like I said, Ms Khumalo has the Zuma effect, the more scandals she attracts, the larger her support base grows. People love her with her many scandals.
It is safe to argue that Kelly sometimes attracts negative publicity knowingly, for what reason, it is not easy to say. She goes out with the aim of attracting people’s attention. She wants to make sure she gives the media enough content to write something negative about her.
How would you define a situation whereby a heavily pregnant woman rocks up at a media event clad in a see through top with a long slit that exposes her tummy?
Perhaps I’m being pessimistic and too conservative but in my world, that is called attention seeking. And guess what, mission accomplished. Ms got many tongues wagging and it wasn’t long before she made front pages of tabloid newspapers and magazines.
Yet again, only three months after the highly publicized death of Senzo Meyiwa, Kelly rocks up at a media event wearing what looked like an engagement ring on her left hand.
My common sense once again tells me that it was inevitable that the ring, whether it was for engagement or not, would leave people asking questions. Again, it does not matter whether Kelly and Bhaka are playing the adult game between the sheets, but the moral of the story is, it is too premature for Kelly to be seen waltzing around with another man only three months after the death of her boyfriend.
Let me stop with the moral lecture, but Kelly knows how to attract the media’s attention and thus far her strategy is paying out well. It is unfortunate that it is at the expense of her public image.
Scandal, Generations and Muvhango actors with the cheapest wardrobe
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
Many production houses producing television dramas invest heavily in the wardrobe of their lead actors for myriad number of reasons. Lead actors enjoy a lot of screen time and they are most loved by the fans, so their wardrobes need to be up to scratch at all times.
However, this does not mean supporting actors and actors making special appearances deserve wardrobe mediocrity. The wardrobe departments of many soap operas also work hard to ensure that supporting actors look presentable and eye deserving.
Nevertheless, there are those actors that will always get the cheapest wardrobe on set. If they are lucky, they’ll get 3 to 4 changing outfits. This does not mean they are being discriminated against or their contribution is less important, but their roles on set deserve such cheap and limited wardrobe. Good news to the production house, it saves them money.
Generations Patricia who escaped the chop is one of the two actors with the cheapest wardrobe on set. She is the manager_waitress at Mocha mamas and wears work uniform in most of the times she appears on our small screens.
Tryphinah of Muvhango is the domestic worker at the Mojalefa residence and just like Patricia, she’s always clad in work uniform. I’d like to congratulate Tryphinah on two things: 1, for making it into the new season of Muvhango and 2, with a new uniform. Change is inevitable. Change is good. But at the same time change can be scary. I just did not expect the new uniform to be in black and white.
Last but not least, Gloria from Scandal! also fits into this category. Although Gloria spends a considerable amount of her time clad in work uniform, however she is way better off compared to her Generations and Muvhango counterparts. She’s got enough private clothes to wear outside work.
Gloria, unlike Patricia and Tryphinah enjoys a lot of screen time and she’s also had her big remarkable moments on television that got the viewers thinking of what will happen next. Her wedding and the recent abuse storylines, among others gave her the opportunity to shine on our screens.
Pictures: e-tv, Muvhango & twitter
Generations, Rhythm City, Muvhango and Skeem Saam: 2014 big moments on television.
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
The year 2014 may be gone but we will always take a trip down the memory lane to remind ourselves of the greatest moments on our small screens. We celebrated, mourned and danced with our favourite characters on television. Here are some of the big moments in 2014, in ascending order.
Number 5: Suffo and Nikkie walk down the aisle
The unprecedented happened! Who could have guessed that one day Suffocate and Nikkie would kiss and say ‘I do! I do!’? The storyline of Suffo and Nikkie walking down the aisle may have taught others that there’s a bright future in a one night stand. If it wasn’t for a one night stand, ordinarily Nikkie would not have conceived Suffo’s baby, and that inevitably means no wedding bells. But thanks to ‘let’s play the No Strings Attached game,’ Nikkie is now a Mrs. Ouch! Did I say that?
Number 4: Lelo kidnaps Zamo
2014 saw Skeem Saam returning to our screens as a soapie. Although this programme has thriving storylines and their cliff hangers are the best in the South African television industry, but the Winnie Serite created drama series wanted an excellent storyline to mark its return to SABC 1. Thanks to the Lelo-Zamokuhle storylines that got viewers at the edge of their seats, Skeem Saam materialized on their existing popularity and continued to mesmerize their fans and supporters.
Number 3: the return of the mighty Kenneth Mashaba
When Kenneth Mashaba was locked in a Thai prison in 2011, we all thought that was the end of him. Our worst fear was confirmed when Seputla Sebogodi braggingly told the media that he was making more money outside Generations.
But 2014 saw Sebogodi approaching Mfundi for a job and the latter’s confidante, Bongi Ndaba who is the head of writing for Generations could not say no to Mashaba returning to Jo’burg to settle old scores with Dineo and S’busiso.
And then the writing team pulled a Boko Haram stunt with the kidnapping of Dineo. Who, during a brainstorming session, proposes that Kenneth brutally removes Dineo’s womb and other people clap with excitement “yeah! It is a nice concept. Let’s go with it. It will make a great viewing?” Hai man! That was too much.
Number 2: Muvhango celebrates 2000th episode on air
Since April 1997, Muvhango only celebrated their 2000th episode on air last year. Their concept was brilliant, well executed except for that the Mokoenas were snubbed from the celebration of the very soapie they pioneered and sustained with their thrilling storylines for years.
Their 2000th episode saw Thandaza and Ranthumeng renewing their vows. This episode also saw some previous actors of the likes of Lerato Moloi, Khanyi Mbau, Phila Mazibuko, Amanda Du Point and Jo-Anne Reyne inter alia making special appearances.
Number 1: Albert passes away
A gun shot at the Mojalefa residence! It definitely shot Albert Mukwevho. Is he going to survive? What is going to happen next? That’s what many fans and followers of Muvhango wanted to find out. And what is the first source of reference, GOOGLE!
The passing of Albert Mukwevho was too emotional. Muvhango trended on twitter. Online articles mentioning ‘Albert Mukwevho’ or ‘Ndivhuho Mutsila’ saw a huge influx of readers. You sleep, you lose. Competition steals the readers. Almost all the media houses ran several articles about the passing of Albert Mukwevho.
Khathutshedzo Makwarela brilliantly penned down the burial of Albert. Journalists got invited to the pre-screening of the burial. But sadly Mr TV Police got snubbed from attending. Or perhaps the invitation went straight into my Junk mail. I should check, it could still be there.
On a serious note, 2014 was a great year. We wait to see what 2015 has in store for us.
Your favourite celebrities are this old…
Tilo ngwana Rashaka Mokgopo
Some celebrities across the world are cagey about their ages. They don’t want to discuss how old they are. Don’t take into consideration their ages on television dramas and plays. They are fictional. They have been created to fit the characters they play.
At least drama actors can tell their true ages. If you don’t want to be lied to, don’t ask a soccer player how old he is. You’ll be surprised to discover that he has a twin and, miraculously, there’s a 3-4 year age gap between them. Ouch!
South African television prince, Menzi Ngubane, best known for his role on SABC 1 Generations as S’busiso Dlomo will be turning 51 this year. Yes, fifty one. This hunk that leaves ladies drooling with excitement should guard safely his ID. Soon he’ll be going in and out of the SASSA offices.
Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. Menzi has over a decade to go before receiving old age social grant but I know someone who is close by, Peter Se-puma who plays the role of Miles Vilakazi in Rhythm City is 61 years old.
Sindi Dlathu who plays the role of Nomthandaza Mokoena in Muvhango is over fourty years. You’ll instantly mistake her for being thirty. Whatever she’s using to look young is working magic. Kindly share the secret sister. We are all ears.
Skeem Saam’s Koko Mancha may be energetic and hilarious on screen but the person making sure the character comes to life, Lydia Mokgokoloshi is 76 years old. In four years time she’ll be turning 80 and we are still counting but she’s still sharp-witted. She says out her lines beautifully. Her acting is of higher standard. I guess as Cynthia Shange (Mankosi in Muvhango) braggingly said to Raphael Griffith (Vusi in Muvhango) “it goes with experience.”
Joyce S’kefu, once referred to as a “crowd puller” because of her role as Doris Mokoena with the infamous punch line, “you must never” is the same age as Menzi Ngubane; she’s turning fifty one this year. S’kefu currently plays the role of a devoted Christian and good hearted Maletsatsi Khumalo in etv multi award winning flagship soapie, Scandal!
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