SAPA AP
‘ Being Mandela’: granddaughters tellall on new TV show
SAPA AP
The newest reality television show is in some ways like any other: mother and daughters, sibling rivalry, family gossip and talk of Big Grandpa
But that’ s where the twist comes in: Big Grandpa is Nelson Mandela. Being Mandela invites US audiences into the lives of Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway and Swati Dlamini, the fashionable, 30-something granddaughters of Mandela and Winnie Madikizela- Mandela. The 94-year-old former South African president, who is being treated for a lung infection and had surgery to remove gallstones, does not appear in the series but his controversial ex-wife –“ Big Mommy” to her grandchildren – does and seems to relish it.
If the Mandela clan seems like an odd subject for a reality show, the granddaughters make no apologies.
“ We get asked this question a lot. Is this not going to tarnish the name and is this not going to be bad for the name?” Swati Dlamini said in an interview in New York, where she and her sister were promoting the show.
“ But our grandparents have always said to us, this is our name too, and we can do what we think is best fitting with the name, as long as we treat it with respect and integrity.”
The 13-episode, first season – which will air on Cozi TV, a new network launched by NBC Owned Television Stations – follows the two women as they try to carry on the family legacy while juggling motherhood in Jo’ burg.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Childhood spent in exile
The sisters, who spent most of their childhood in exile in the United States, make an emotional visit to the prison on Robben Island where their grandfather spent 18 of the 27 years he was imprisoned by South Africa’ s white-ruled government. Swati works on publishing the prison diaries that her grandmother wrote but now cannot bear to read.
The women, along with two brothers, also become the latest famous names to launch a fashion line, called“ Long Walk to Freedom” in honour of their grandfather’ s autobiography. They hope that US audiences will see a vibrant and modern side of South Africa through their eyes.
The family, especially Madikizela-Mandela, loves to gossip about when Swati, the single mother of a four-year-old daughter, is going to get married. Swati is furious when Zaziwe, despite being sworn to secrecy, blurts to their grandmother that her sister is dating someone. Zaziwe( 35), is married to an American businessperson and has three children.
The sisters are the daughters of Zenani Mandela and Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini of Swaziland. But parents everywhere will delight in seeing that being royal doesn’ t help them face toddler tantrums or get older children out of bed and into school uniforms.
Big Grandpa and Big Mommy are into the show, the sisters insisted.
Mandela will definitely watch it, they said. The Nobel Peace Prize winner apparently likes reality TV.
48 | WGSA MAG June 2013