Nicky Greenwall's new 10-part entertainment documentary series Behind The Name starts on e.tv next week Wednesday (5 September) at 20h00.
Each episode focuses on one of South Africa's biggest showbiz personalities and looks at their rise to fame.
Here's the lowdown on what we can expect from the first episode:
From the press release:The programme kicks-off with Mandoza, a kwaito star with natural talent and loads of real star quality.
In 2000, Mandoza’s released multi-platinum album, Nkalakatha. The album produced a smash-hit in the form of the title track, which surprised many in the South African music industry by becoming a genuine crossover song, hitting the top of the charts on both traditionally black and white radio stations.
As a child, life was not easy in Zola South (Soweto), where Mandoza lived with his two sisters, mother and grandparents. “There was lots of love, really. But my father drank too much.
“I mean…we could be starving to death in the house but he would find cash for himself somewhere. We gave him plenty of chances but he kept messing up.”
Growing up in the hard-edged area of Zola was also pretty fraught, with the gangster life looming large over the lives of all youngsters in the township – something made all the more enticing by Zola’s unemployment rate.
And then there was the matter of a jail sentence metered out to Mandoza for stealing a car.
In this first episode of Behind the Name, Nicky Greenwall takes you behind the scenes and gives you a peep into the life of a man who transformed himself from criminal to pop star.
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Related links:Nicky Greenwall Goes Behind The Name