Cozi TV, a newly-launched network from the NBC Owned Stations group, has added to its budding lineup the new reality series “Being Mandela,” starring the granddaughters of Nelson and Winnie Mandela.
Sisters Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway and Swati Dlamini are featured in the half-hour weekly program, which follows the South African pair while giving viewers an inside look at their lives, close-knit family and personal aspirations.
It’s scheduled to debut Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. ET (with an encore airing at midnight) on Cozi TV. The channel, which replaced the NBC-owned stations’ digital network Nonstop, launched Dec. 20 on the 10 stations, including WNBC New York and KNBC Los Angeles, and expanded to other affiliates Jan. 1. It’s now available to nearly 38 million homes in the country’s largest markets.
Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway and Swati Dlamini are the daughters of Zenani Mandela Dlamini, Nelson and Winnie Mandela’s daughter, and Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini, a prince of Swaziland. Both women were born in South Africa, but spent much of their youth in exile in the United States while their grandfather was imprisoned. They returned to South Africa as teenagers upon their grandfather’s release from prison in 1991. The duo, now mothers, run their own clothing line called Long Walk to Freedom.
The show will feature, among other things, their first visit to Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years, as well as their experiences shark cage diving and traveling to Swaziland, where they are full-fledged African princesses.
“This show is about us and our lives — both as individuals and as members of the Mandela family,” the sisters said in a joint statement. “It offers a window on how we far we have come to re-establish our lives. We are excited to share the story of our lives, and hopefully viewers will be able to appreciate how universal the human story is.”
via EurWeb
