From Manuva to a reality show
By Rosalia David
‘MANUVA’ hit makers and one of Namibia’s most loved music trios consisting of Arthur Nanub (Damara Dik Ding) Themba Matongo (Thembizo) and Strauss Lunyangwe (Mr Makoya) have just given their fans a stellar reason to ignore the world and focus more on reality television.
The trio have just launched a reality show which premiered on Sunday, titled ‘Family Affairs’ which tells their different life stories and gives viewers an idea of what exactly goes down behind the scenes in their lives.
With viewers fed a lot of international content, this move shows that Namibians are slowly moving in the right direction by giving viewers local content and a reason to keep watching local channels.
Speaking at the launch, Makoya said: “We had a dream that these three young men from Katutura could be able to film themselves and tell a true Namibian story the right way. It’s a narrative that only we can understand and resonate with our people.
It is a story that was made possible, even without start-up capital to back our dream.”
According to Damara Dik Ding, the group was formed 21 years ago with a dream of making it big in a local music industry, and they have never looked back ever since.
“When we came back together a couple of years ago after breaking up, our initial idea was to just document the reunion process at the NAMAs 2016, but as time went by we had another dream. A dream that these three young men from Katutura could film themselves and start telling a true Namibian story the right way,” he explained.
Through the reality show the trio also aimed to convey the message that even without start-up capital, one can pursue one’s dreams.
“We decided to bend our backs and put our hands where our mouths are, we started to walk the walk and not talk the talk, because that’s where most dreams get lost in our society, too much talk, too little action,” he said.
The Family Affairs reality show captures the real struggles and lifestyle of the three members trying to resurrect their music group after a decade. Their family bonds, sibling rivalries, highs and lows and performances, including their alter egos clashes – make for good viewing.
“We’re basically giving the whole of our Namibian people a sneak peek into what really goes on behind the scenes when artists put their pens to paper and create unique music, not forgetting that at the end of the day they’re only human and amongst that [must] deal with the same struggles and pressures we do,” he explained.
One Africa TV content manager Taleni Shimhopileni said ‘Family Affairs’ is an exciting addition to the broadcaster’s content bouquet. “Reality shows continue to gain popularity in our entertainment world and being able to support the local content industry and provide a platform for the Matongo family to tell their story brings us great joy.”
She said there is a need for local content to satisfy the desire of Namibian audiences to see their own people and hear their own stories on TV. “There is no nation that doesn’t want to hear stories told by their own people and from their own land. Therefore, with media being a reflection of its people, both to entertain and to set forth introspection, experiencing such reflection from our local peers, and artists allows us as broadcasters to fulfill our mandate, at its maximum potential,” she added.