Meet the host of the Papgeld show

This past week saw the launch of a new DSTV channel titled 'Moja Love' with an interesting line up of new shows. Among the line up is a daily talk show titled 'Show Me Love', hosted by an awesome foursome, as well as shows such as the telenovela titled ‘Hope,’ a talk show centered around sex titled ‘Thrills With Dr. T’ and a reality docu-series titled ‘Sofa Silahlane.’

Perhaps the most interesting show on the vast line up (in my opinion) has to be the show called Papgeld. Hosted by Moss Makwati, the investigative reality show tracks fathers, and in some cases mothers, who are not living up to their parental responsibilities all with the aim of doing what is best for the children involved.

Viewers who wish to gain insight on how to get their former partner to own up and pay up will get all the info they need in a spin-off show called "Let’s Talk Papgeld" which airs directly after Papgeld and provides tips and guidelines.

The show had actually been an idea that Siyaya TV’s founder and head honcho, Aubrey Tau had in mind for years. The show was 8 years in the making and one of the most time-consuming parts of making it happen was the search for a presenter. Until one day, one of the show’s researchers stepped forward and threw his name in the hat after developing a strong connection to the show’s cause through his work behind the scenes.   

“He just came to me one day and said he wants to audition for the show and we had been looking for female presenters and I said ‘well, Moss, you’re a man and I don’t know if that’s going to work and we’re going to have to think about that because I think a woman should be doing the show’...” explained the channel’s head of programming, Jacqui Setai, in an interview with ZAlebs.

“Anyway, I said ‘fine, put him on tape’ and he blew us away,” she added.

Seati was further drawn into Moss after hearing Makwati’s backstory and his own experience raising a child his partner had from a previous relationship and the experiences they had with the child’s biological father.

Sekwati also emphasized his love for children and his passion for their well-being in our interview, stating that he had actually worked on an SABC 1 show in the past in which he read to children and taught them about the power of imagination.

The timing of the show is almost serendipitous as the conversation of child maintenance and the prevalence of parents who default is currently very topical, especially on social media where there are a number of groups aimed at exposing these parents and sometimes forcing them to pay up.

Sekwati believes both the social media interventions and the show are necessary to work with the law in ensuring what happens to the child involved is what is best.

The show’s producer, Noxolo Mthethwa, hopes the show will change the perception that child maintenance is a mother’s way of getting back at the father of her child whom she may no longer be with. As such, she is happy about the new law that may see defaulting parents get blacklisted for not keeping up to date with their child.

“When you watch the show, you will see that ultimately our question will always be ‘how does this affect the child?’ Which is in essence what the show is really about. It’s not about what the mother says or what the father says,” adds Mthetwa.

Those who have seen the show's promo in which Moss and his team are chasing down a defaulting father will understand the anticipation of the drama in the show but the show's host promises all that and more for the first season of 'Papgeld.'

Mthethwa adds that as entertaining as the show will be, there will also be a lot of useful information that everyday South Africans can use in their daily lives - from the mom in Soweto with a difficult ex to the grandmother who is responsible for her grandchildren and has a daughter who claims grant money that is never used on the children.

Lastly, Mthethwa and Makwati added how they had seen the immediate change that their show had in the lives of the people who had featured on the show and this is even before the show has aired.

Papgeld debuts on Monday, 19 February at 7pm on DSTV channel 157 and not on Wednesday as mentioned in the promo clip.

• You might like to read: #ShowMeLove - Fans react to new show on Moja Love channel

Main image credit: Supplied