Evita Gets Talking
– screenafrica.com, 06 November 2007
Born Free Media production Dinner With The President is a talk show hosted by two award-winning South African comedians, Pieter-Dirk Uys as Evita Bezuidenhout and Loyiso Gola as Loyiso Makoeloeli (Evita’s grandson). The 13-part show airs on SABC 2 on Thursdays at 21h30.
Evita Bezuidenhout is a fictional Afrikaans character created and played by legendary South African satirist Pieter Dirk-Uys. Evita was formerly the Ambassador of the fictional black homeland of Bapetiskosweti during apartheid, and is both a socialite and self-proclaimed political activist.
Loyiso Gola emerged on the comedy scene in 2000 making his debut on the Cape Comedy Collective and has never looked back. He has performed alongside local comic giants such as Cokey Falkow, Stuart Taylor and David Kau. Considered to be a fresh, unique and frank voice for his generation Gola has appeared on SABC3’s Comedy Showcase and SABC1’s The Pure Monate Show.
Dinner With The President 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 Makoeloeli, 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.
“I think the show is cutting edge and will get South Africa to talk about issues they wouldn’t necessarily talk about publicly, for example dating across the colour line, black economic empowerment etc.”, says the executive producer Mandla Sibeko.
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille, ANC NEC member Matthew Phosa and news anchor Lerato Mbele will be amongst those interviewed on the show. An invitation has been sent to President Thabo Mbeki and the First Lady to come to dinner, and both presenters are excited about this possibility.
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