Johannesburg - Ever been curious about the sex lives of South Africa’s celebrities?
The all-new hot and steamy, locally produced Showmax Original, Sex and Pleasure (S&P) is set to fill your curiosity as the new series shares a glimpse into the sex lives of some of South Africa’s hottest celebs, including Moonchild Sanelly, Siv Ngesi and Lesego Thlabi aka Coconut Kelz.
The series is hosted by writer Kim Windvogel and journalist Romantha Botha, and is an adults-only documentary, which takes a broader view of what South Africans get up to behind closed doors and everywhere else too.
With episodes streaming weekly, the show focuses on several topics, including the sex lives of celebrities, as well as a diverse range of South Africans talking openly about their first experiences of sex and sex education.
Topics also include love, sex work, pills and potions, orgasm, disability, age, and spirituality.
Journalist Romantha Botha said the series would offer an exciting glimpse into the sex lives of some of South Africa’s celebs, whether it is Moonchild Sanelly talking about her first blow job, Siv Ngesi talking about losing his virginity or Lesego Tlhabi talking about browsing porn on her school’s computers before she learnt to erase her search history.
“I’ll give too much away if I go into their conversations, but Siv (Ngesi) spoke from the perspective of a man whose sexuality is often questioned,” Botha told the Saturday Star.
“Moonchild (Sanelly), who is known to be very open about her sex life and sexuality, this time touches on being a mother, and Lesego Thlabi tells more about her upbringing and what she has experienced, asking probing questions on social media to see what South Africans generally get up to in bed.”
Writer Kim Windvogel also didn’t reveal too much about what celebs share in the series.
“All I can say is you won't find Moonchild Sanelly on tour without her toy bag,” said Windvogel.
Botha said the series is a candid, conversational docu-series that explores how people from different walks of life and with different attitudes towards sex, engage, express and explore sex and pleasure, respectively.
“It’s told in a fun, quirky way and grounded in expert advice and research on South Africans.”
She says the pair decided to pursue the series after realising that South Africa lacked an in-depth series of this nature.
“I watched another documentary exploring sex in South Africa, but it was lacking some of the fundamental parts of the discussion – diversity in age, religion, spiritual and cultural beliefs, to name a few.
“So, I took on the challenge to explore more and slid into Kim’s DMs to join forces and expand the concept into this massive project produced by Ideacandy and created by Showmax.”
Windvogel said she was immediately hooked on the idea as sex is a topic that has always fascinated her.
“I've worked in the Sexual and reproductive health and rights space for the last decade, and this project is a culmination of all these years and the experience it has given me. The conversation of sex must be expanded to be inclusive of all identities and experiences so that we can all see ourselves on a mainstream platform such as Showmax talking about not only sex but the importance of pleasure for everybody.”
So what, in fact, do South Africans get up to behind closed doors?
Botha said: “To varying degrees, most South Africans are curious about sex and explore it in their own way. We found that the shame of keeping it a taboo and behind closed doors has caused some people to give up on themselves and their sexual desires.”
One of the episodes features a diverse range of South Africans talking openly about their first experiences of sex and sex education.
Botha said it was important that they chose a diverse group of people to interview.
“Certain questions, like the one about first sexual encounters, were asked across the board to all our interviewees. Our aim from the onset was to make it as diverse, interesting and fun as possible by including people who are on opposite ends of the conservative-liberal spectrum.”
She says well-known celebrities in the country were generally happy to chat about their sex lives.
“Although, myself and Kim always go into any chat with a little bit of lube to make our guests more comfortable.”
“They had an idea of what the theme was but mostly just spoke from the heart and off the cuff. So what you see is a very authentic response about their sexual experiences and thoughts around the specific theme.”
Botha said it was important for them to include well- known faces in the series.
“We very often idolise people far beyond what is necessary. We wanted to invite everyone – the man on the street, the professional and the well-known person, to join us in this, oh, so very important chat without making one more important than the other.”
Botha said she was taken aback by the sex stories shared by well-known writer Dr Sindiwe Magona.
“When I met her, I could not believe that such a dynamic woman came in such a small package. When she spoke, she took us on a poetic journey about her sexual life – the good, the bad, the sad and the funny. I aspire to have her way with words, great mind and spunk at the age of 80.”
The series also focuses on the issue of why sex is not being discussed in SA between parents and kids.
Botha said there were many reasons for this.
“Sex is taboo worldwide to varying degrees, but factors that impact this is definitely access to information, religious, spiritual and cultural norms, what society tells us about how we should act, and as a result of these things, mainly shame.
“These factors came up in almost all our interviews. The importance of communication was stressed many times by experts and is a recurring theme for a better sex life.”
The series also looks into whether the education system is doing enough to teach kids about sex.
Botha believes not enough is being done to adequately educate children on the important issue of sex.
“The education system was good for teaching children the basics of the reproductive system and safe sex, but not everyone has sex with the aim to make babies. What about queer sex? How do they keep safe? So much information is being withheld from children in the interest of keeping them safe.
“But as we learn in the docu-series, ill-equipped children can lead to weird, uncomfortable and often risky, horrible and dangerous sexual behaviours when they do decide to explore.
“Being educated by the streets comes with its own risks, and parents have to ask themselves if they’re willing to take that gamble.”
She said it was of utmost importance that the education system included a thorough sex education course into a school curriculum.
“Ill-equipped children can lead to all sorts of challenges in adulthood. But, as we’ve seen with the introduction of Comprehensive Sexual Education, parents and religious groups are still vehemently against teachers explaining to children, in a safe environment, what to expect, what’s happening in their bodies and how to keep themselves safe. And because parents do not give the necessary information at home, we are failing our children on all fronts and will continue a vicious cycle of misinformation and shame.
“Let's be honest – children are having sex a lot earlier than even our current statistics show – which is 15 for girls and 14 for boys. Sexual violence in the home happens a lot sooner – but how will children know if they’re a victim if they don’t even really know what sex or consent really is?”
Botha said it was difficult deciding which topics to focus on .
“The difficult part of this project was choosing which themes are more pressing. The more we spoke about it, the more we realised that the topics around sex and pleasure is endless. We eventually decided on eight.”
“Subjectively, I felt that disability and sex is one of the most important conversations. We found studies that indicate that society – including the medical fraternity – often do not see people living with disabilities or with certain limitations as sexual beings.
“This, in turn, leads to them not getting the necessary sexual reproductive healthcare that everyone has the right to. Demystifying some of their experiences and humanising people was very important for me.”
She said queer sex education was an extremely important topic to address, too.
“Since we don’t have queer sex education in schools, it was important for us to educate and invite South Africans into this conversation.
“Where do queer people with hetero parents go for the sex talk? We hope that by watching this, more parents will ask and equip themselves to have this chat.”
The series has been directed by the well-known Ayanda Duma.
“Ayanda Duma is one of the coolest directors. Not only was she very sure of her vision for this project, but it aligned with ours – which was fresh, informative, conversational, sexy and quirky,” said Botha.
“She stitched this baby together and created a visual dream beyond our own little imaginations. It was a pleasure and honour to work with her. Watch the space. She’s going to do great things in her career.”
Asked if she felt that the series would prove to be a big hit among South Africans, Botha said: “I’m just taking each new episode and the reactions that comes with it, one day at a time.
“We have released some of the more conversational and “safe for work” episodes first to ease people into some of the more “kinkier” and candid ones.
“What I do hope is that it starts a wave of conversations that doesn’t end after watching the entire docu-series, but that people become ambassadors for the sex talk – with their partners, doctors, parents and children.”