SABC 3 announced that the popular social commentary series, Trending SA, will be returning for a brand-new season from 3 August 2020 – and three new hosts are set to sit in the driver’s seat. Refiloe Mpakanyane, Elma Smit and Mablerh will be bringing viewers everything they need to know in a series which says what you really want to say, asks what you’ve wanted to ask, pays tribute to the deserving and pats you on the shoulder to say that you aren’t alone.
Now, we get to know the three hosts a little bit better ahead of the season premiere:
Refiloe Mpakanyane
Refiloe is a seasoned radio and TV anchor who loves nothing more than researching and conducting a good interview. She is an experienced voice-over artist; the host of Weekend Breakfast with Refiloe Mpakanyane on 702 and her penchant for the arts and technology is underpinned by her entrepreneurial work in on demand audio and content. Refiloe also dabbles in acting: highlights of which are acting in the Clint Eastwood film Invictus and Roli Nikiwe’s Nothing For Mahala.
Elma Smit
Elma is perhaps best recognised as a sport host in South Africa and through much of the cricket and rugby-loving world for her work on two World Cups in 2019, for global sport governing bodies the International Cricket Council and World Rugby. She worked as an ICC Insider at the Cricket World Cup in England and then produced and hosted the world’s most watched daily digital show of the year, RWC Daily, in Japan later in 2019. Her love affair with broadcasting dates back to her start in community radio during her schooldays. Since then, she’s spent over a decade in many different radio roles at 5FM (presenting, producing, compiling the playlist, etc.). These days she’s the sport anchor on the Breakfast with Martin Bester on JacarandaFM. Locally Elma made a big splash back in 2011 when she became the first woman ever to report on a Rugby World Cup tournament for SuperSport from New Zealand. She followed this up with 9 years of rugby reporting from sidelines and studios for the sports broadcaster, covering Varsity Cup, Currie Cup, Super Rugby, Springbok tours, test matches and also the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. In between she also spent nearly three years hosting wildly popular breakfast TV show Dagbreek and in 2016 she created, produced and hosted a rugby-cooking show called Buite Die Lyne.
MaBlerh
MaBlerh (pronounced: mah-blair), born Mthokozisi Cele in Umlazi, Durban is a musician, radio personality, TV personality, MC and actor. His obtained a Bachelor of Economics degree at Rhodes University in 2006 and worked at Unilever South Africa as an Assistant National Accounts Manager before moving to Johannesburg to nurture his career in the media industry. He managed TV personalities like Minnie Dlamini, worked as a publicist on brands like Amstel and music festivals. In 2012, April, he joined the Ukhozi FM’s Afternoon Drive Show (Woza Nabangani Bakho) as an entertainment news correspondent running a segment titled, ‘Your Right To Respond’ where he interviewed celebrities on Mondays about what was written about them on tabloids. During this time he was invited to MC Major Music festivals like the iBeach Xplosion and the Durban Jazz Festival. He has also MC’ed intimate events like the Kenny Latimore Gala Dinner and ABSA Year End Function. In November 2012, he released a song with Nutty Nys (Nka Modira) titled ‘Umbuzo’ and the video debuted on Live Amp on SABC 1. In 2018, he was a guest host on 3 episodes of SABC 1’s entertainment news show, RGB. He currently hosts Out & About.
Catch ‘Trending SA’ every weekday at 18h00 on SABC 3.
