Season 1
Nedbank Ke Yona is a South African docu-reality television series produced by BonNgoe Productions which stems from the Nedbank Cup soccer competition's slogan "Ke Yona" denoting "The One", which revolves around the hunt for amateur soccer talent on the streets of South Africa to find a team of untried amateurs who will play the winners of the professional competition.
The series premiered on SABC1 on Saturday 4 May 2013, at 14h00. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 13 half-hour episodes in the series.
Synopsis
South Africa needs new soccer stars. Are you ready to be a hero?
The Nedbank Ke Yona concept stems from the Nedbank Cup's slogan "Ke Yona" denoting "The One" and revolves around the hunt for amateur soccer talent on the streets of South Africa.
Nationwide tryouts took place in all nine provinces and those selected for the 18-person squad will be coached by professionals and compete against the winners of this year's Nedbank Cup.
Get into the final 45 and making the team is just one step away. Once the public has had its say, it's down to the experts to select the final team of 18 soccer stars out of the 45 finalists. The final squad will be announced at the PSL awards.
The team will be trained by the best coaches our country has to offer. A team of soccer experts will put the final Nedbank Ke Yona team through a series of boot camps and training sessions until they're ready to show the country what they're made of.
After final training and bootcamp sessions, The Nedbank Ke Yona Team will get to take on the winners of the Nedbank 2013 Cup in front of an audience of millions of South African fans at the start of the Nedbank 2014 Cup Tournament.
The entire process was documented and shared with the soccer community on multiple platforms, including this 13-part television series on SABC1.
The series was executive produced by Pepsi Pokane for BonNgoe Productions.
The Nedbank Ke Yona team
The winning players were revealed on the show on Saturday, 20 July 2013.
They are:
Japhta Merase (Goal Keeper)
Mwenya Chibwe (Goal Keeper)
Sinethemba Sdeba (Centre Back)
Kyle Davies (Left Back)
Dumisani Mkhwanazi (Centre Back)
Mthobisi Ndlovu (Centre Back)
Donald Shelleng (Right Back)
Pious Madubanya (Left Back)
Lukhanyo Ndabetha (Central Midfielder)
Masixole Njokweni (Central Midfielder)
Bagcine Sinqa (Left Wing)
Engetelani Baloyi (Left Wing)
Brian Oompie (Central Midfielder)
Zamabuntu Mthini (Right Wing)
Lungelo Msomi (Right Wing)
Mthuthuzeli Matshabane (Central Midfielder)
Cardyn Dunn (Central Midfielder)
Collen Mashawa (Central Midfielder)
Caldea Moseamidi (Striker)
Junior Peinaar (Striker)
Delano Abrahams (Striker)
Thumani Mtshambela (Striker)