Look both ways

Muvhango head writer Lynn Kekana shines a spotlight on the soap's bold past and its inspiring future.

- SANUSHA SHAMDUTT

As tvplus say goodbye, we asked one of Muvhango’s head writers, Lynn Kekana, to look ahead, look back, and chat with us about TV in South Africa. Lynn has previously worked on projects like the ground-breaking drama series eHostela and soapies like Uzalo (see p13) and Isidingo.

When you look at the early storylines of Muvhango, what attitudes and values surprise you?
The strong, Black, powerful women on this show who fought for themselves and who portrayed quite strong characters. These were women who were not afraid to express themselves! What surprised me the most about this is that over the years it seems as though women have become afraid to talk. For me, it’s quite ironic because you would think that things evolve and that people are becoming more and more open-minded. Now it’s still quite a shock when a woman expresses herself. In real life, in society, there are still those gender-based inequalities. We never had that right at the beginning of Muvhango and to see it evolve has been incredible.

Where have your personal values clashed with what you’ve seen on screen in Muvhango, and how has that been useful to you as a writer? 
I have a very strong personality. If I can speak for and express myself without being afraid or threatened that I will lose something, then I want to see the same thing on my television screen. I strive towards writing my characters in that way, but I also continue to strive towards portraying a storyline that exposes the reality that the empowerment of a woman doesn’t mean the emasculation of a man. In terms of this, the values on Muvhango that I’ve seen clash with my personal values is that of the submissive woman. But this influences me to challenge that, and write empowering stories for women.