Moja Love (DStv 157) is a channel formed out of a partnership between Siyaya Media Network and DStv. It is described as "a platform for the connection, expression and celebration of the women of Mzansi" and promises to showcase content that speaks to universal love in the African context.
The channel covers the universal themes of love through a variety of shows ranging from telenovelas, dramas, sitcoms, reality, actuality to interactive talk shows.
Moja is a slang word that means "everything is good" and while love is a universal emotion, Moja Love explores love from the perspective of the modern South African woman using "honest, reflective, hopeful and humorous storytelling".
The channel is dedicated to multiple dimensions of love - self-love, sisterly love, maternal love, romantic love, and love that drives one's passions and creates an unbreakable bond in our communities.
The 24-hour channel launches with 22 new shows, 80% of which were created and produced by Siyaya Media Network specifically for Moja Love. The balance of shows were selected from other African countries and have never aired before on South African screens.
Some of the highlights on Moja Love at launch:
Show Me Love (talk show)
A talk show hosted by KG Moeketsi with Unathi Nkayi, Abigail Visagie and Nontobeko Sibisi. These hosts meet daily to schwashwata on every topic that concerns women at one time or another. With no topic off limits, the show provides a safe place for women to air any issue, in the company of their cistas.
Join the C'stahood of love that boldly tackles a variety of topics that confront all women at one point or another.
Hope (telenovela)
Heaven help us when love goes desperately wrong in the telenovela Hope, which features Nimrod Nkosi as Pastor Buthelezi - a well-meaning pastor of a small congregation who is about to go through the biggest challenges to his faith he has ever faced.
Content in his role as a pastor, husband and father, when a new vibrant church opens up across the street from Pastor Buthelezi's church, it sets in motion a story of love, deceit and betrayal, which unravels in the world of churches.
As brother is pitted against father, church members hide dark secrets, and pastors compete for the soul of the community, there is always hope in a dark world.
No Excuses: Pay Your Papgeld (reality)
Reality hits home in No Excuses, Papgeld, a show that champions those who perhaps need our love the most – our children. The investigative reality show tracks fathers, and in some cases mothers, who are not living up to their parental responsibilities.
For those parents hoping to understand how to get their former partner to own up and pay up, a spin-off show, Let's Talk Papgeld, provides tips and guidelines from a range of experts and service providers in the social services and maintenance sector.
Judge Khambule (comedy)
A sitcom set in a courtroom that features characters caught up in various legal issues. Judge Khambule is played by Thenjiwe Mosley, who listens to the cases and passes judgement with hilarious outcomes.
Other shows on the channel include:
Highly Inappropriate with Phat Joe
A reality beauty makeover show called
Beat
Thrills with Dr T, hosted by Dr Tlaleng, a sexologist
Sofa Slahlane, hosted by veteran journalist Mzilikazi wa Arika
Catch the new channel on DStv 157, or read more about it on the official
TVSA Channel Page.