It debuts on Mondays – Wednesdays at 19h30 in the evenings.
The proceedings were hosted by 5 FM radio presenter, Zanele Potelwa.
The whimsically dressed guests – as was the theme of the evening, exhibited a key characteristic of the show – they were as sophisticated as they were fun and lively.
The evening itself was devoid of the usual long speeches characteristic of major events— they were concise and summed up the role each partner and sponsor played in the development of uBettina Wethu.
When it came for her time to formally begin the evening’s speeches, Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri, producer of uBettina Wethu, spoke of the process of developing the show and thanked each sponsor and partner that helped create the quality result that is uBettina Wethu.
“For the journey this has been, it seems surreal and exciting to think that South African and African audiences will finally get a chance to see this labour of love we’ve been working on for quite some time now. We put in hard work and the utmost creativity in developing uBettina Wethu and can’t wait for viewers to enjoy it”, said Tshepiso Chikapa Phiri.
Among the partners and sponsors who spoke, SABC 1 General Manager for content, Renee Williams, expressed that, “What we have been striving for at SABC 1 Mzansi fo sho is impact on South African television.
The SABC 1 Programmes manager, Sane Zondi once said that we are so strong in our identity as a channel and with that, we can take anything and make it Mzansi fo sho! This is what sold us on taking uBettina Wethu as a production and it will indeed be completely different from the rest.”
Country Manager at Viu, Ryan Solovei emphasised their aim to ensure that audiences get as much viewing pleasure from the show as possible. He also spoke to the fact that, “The ease and flexibility with which the audience can now view content is as important and critical as developing it for the screen. As Viu we realised that from the onset and this definitely motivated our involvement with this incredible show”.
Media Heads 360 chairman, Connie Molusi, relayed the importance and novelty of the funding model used to develop the show, and expressed his wish for future productions to adopt it.
For most of the evening the sounds of DJ Hudson, and later, the Kings of the Weekend, Sphe and Naves kept everyone on their feet.
Image (Farieda Metsileng as uBettina).
