Season 1
Dinner with the President is a South African comedy talk show created by Pieter-Dirk Uys, in which his famous character Evita Bezuidenhout and her estranged black grandson Loyiso host various celebrity guests who are considered role models.
It is executive produced by Mandla Sibeko with Born Free Media.
The half-hour series premiered on SABC2 on Thursday 1 November, 2007 at 22h00. There were 13 episodes in the series.
Synopsis
The most famous white woman in South Africa, former South African ambassador to the former black homeland of Bapetikosweti, Mrs Evita Bezuidenhout is reunited with her estranged black grandson Loyiso Makoeloeli.
Loyiso has just been brought back into the fold after a long period of exile from his Xhosa/Afrikaans family, due to the obvious colour of his skin. But now it is the age of transparency and reconciliation.
Evita has embraced the new national order with characteristic fervor and is now focused on her new project: ensuring that Loyiso has what it takes to be a Successful Black Man in the South Africa of Today.
The show is a cross between fiction and reality that explores the universal topics of life, day to day South African challenges, new discoveries, old wisdom and good old ‘boere’ magic, amongst many.
Evita wants to ensure that her grandson Loyiso uses all the opportunities that life has to offer him to the fullest. Loyiso is the grandson of Evita’s daughter Billie Jean, who was conceived during Apartheid.
Expecting the president for dinner, Evita invites guests into her Pretoria home who serve as role models for young Loyiso. They also guide the pair in tackling different issues as they discover themselves in the new South Africa, and prepare them for the day when the President visits.
Among the leaders (presidents) she has also issued a standing invitation to South Africa's first couple, President Thabo Mbeki and first lady Zanele Mbeki, and is continuously preparing for their imminent arrival.
Credits
Production Company
Born Free Media
Executive Producer
Mandla Sibeko
Producer
Cuz Lindsay
Director
uZanenkosi
Technical Director
Nadia White
Production Manager
Jacqui Still
Hosts
Evita Bezuidenhout and Loyiso Gola
Editor
Jacqui Havermahl
Script Editor
Justine Loots
Script Writers
Salah Sabiti and Henrietta Gryffenberg
Researcher and Guest Co-ordinator
Tshepo Mathabathe