Veteran musician Blondie Makhene pulls back the curtain and offers his vulnerable side in the new reality TV show The Makhenes, spanning five decades and three generations. In the new Mzansi Magic show debuting on April 12, he is joined by his famous daughter and actor Letoya Makhene. Blondie tells Sowetan what the audience can expect.
Sowetan: How do you feel about sharing your life on reality TV?
Blondie Makhene: It feels good to debrief, to be able to look back and to meditate on my past. I guess this is my own way of dealing with my post-traumatic stress disorder as a South African.
Sowetan: What were some of your favourite things about filming?
Makhene: There were a lot of things that I enjoyed … such as having more family gatherings than we’ve had in a long while and also watching the crew at work and seeing how it all comes together behind the scenes.
Sowetan: What are you hoping viewers take from seeing your story?
Makhene: My story is our story, and many of us are going through the same things. I’m hoping that people may find solutions to their challenges through our story.
Sowetan: Why should people watch the show?
Makhene: People should watch the show because they might learn something from our experiences, there is something for everyone, and we are putting it all out for the world to see.
Sowetan: How do you deal with the public scrutiny your family faces?
Makhene: I accepted a long time ago, when I woke up to this life, where this family chose to be. It comes with the territory. Ours is a contested space where the weak will fall by the wayside, and we are the Makhenes; we don’t die early.
Sowetan: When you see your loved ones trending on social media, how does that make you feel?
Makhene: Trending is good when we are sharing; however, there are owners of the space on social media who won’t let others be. This is when I cry for my beloved country and regret how we have lost the ability to be abantu. We have turned into heartless bullies without empathy. We rejoice over one another’s pain instead of reaching out to each other.
Sowetan: When you aren’t touring, how do you enjoy spending your time?
Makhene: I spend my time devising ideas on how to make tomorrow better for someone, creating new music with many different people, and attending my grandchildren’s celebrations and events, an amazing bunch of people who may be misunderstood.
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