Nelson Mandela’s family members have made the leap into reality TV. Two of his granddaughters star in the reality show Being Mandela to premiere on the NBC-owned network, COZI TV, this weekend.
Starting Sunday (Feb. 10) American audiences will get a 13-episode look into the lives of Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway and Swati Dlamini. The women are aware that their grandfather’s legacy, which includes fighting against apartheid and spending nearly 30 year behind bars, isn’t the kind of storyline for reality TV. “We get asked this question a lot,” Dlamini said. “Is this not going to tarnish the name and is this not going to be bad of the name? But our grandparents have always said to us, this is our name too and we can what we think is best fitting with the name, as long as we treat it with respect and integrity.”
The women –who spent a good portion of their childhood in exile to the U.S.– bring up Mandela, and visit the jail cell where he spent 27 years in custody. Now 94, the former South African president never appears on the show, but his ex-wife, Winnie, is featured.
Dlamini and Manaway are not only related to a world-renowned freedom fighter, they’re royalty. Their father is Prince Thumbumuzi of Swaziland, but the show isn’t just about pampered royals. It showcases the women’s lives as mothers, and fashion designers launching the line Walk to Freedom, alongside their two brothers.
See a clip of the show below.
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Photo: BBC
