The tables will turn on a local scientist tomorrow night as he and his young daughter come under the reality TV microscope on the first episode of the new season of Daddy 24/7, after they spent a month in a Johannesburg house with cameras watching their every move.
The tables will turn on a local scientist tomorrow night as he and his young daughter come under the reality TV microscope on the first episode of the new season of Daddy 24/7, after they spent a month in a Johannesburg house with cameras watching their every move.
In the second season of Daddy 24/7, which will broadcast on SABC1 on Tuesdays at 6.30pm, Grahamstonian Bonga Zuma and his three-year-old daughter Sinothando appear in the popular show about first-time fathers and their toddlers. They are one of four father-daughter pairs who spent October living in a reality TV bubble to compete for the R100 000 prize.
The 30-year-old father decided to give it a shot while watching the show's first season. "My wife actually said to me that she thought me and my daughter could do this," Bonga told Grocott's Mail. "Also because I have always been a hands-on father, I thought we could do it. When we saw an advert on TV about the show she filled in the forms and we entered."
After a lengthy audition process, Bonga and Sinothando ended up making the final cut. "At the auditions we were interviewed about our children and how well we understand them," Bonga explained. "We made it to the first round of finalists, which was the top 12. Then in the top six the auditioning was more intense with a child psychologist doing physical and emotional assessments, and also testing our ability to go to the level of a child," he said.
The four fathers and their children spent 30 days in the Daddy 24/7 complex and had to take care of them while being assessed by experts. "In the complex we did everything that was needed by the child without the assistance of their mother or the nanny," Bonga said.
When the series ends next year viewers will vote for the father and toddler team they think deserves to win the prize.
Bonga has been living in Grahamstown for the last six years and works as a scientist at the Rhodes University biotechnology department.
He believes there is no textbook or manual to raise a child and parents should invest time in understanding and instilling good values in their children. "Children are so different, there is no book that can tell us how to raise our children. I have always been an involved dad and there is always something you learn when you raise a child," he said. Bonga added that he learnt a lot about his daughter during their stay at the Daddy 24/7 complex.
"As much as it was hard for me to adjust to that kind of environment and be on camera every day, Sino was very confident. The ways she interacted with other children was amazing."
Bonga's wife Zanele said she was very proud of her husband and daughter. "I am happy and proud of them, but it has not been an easy journey. When they came back I could see that Sino is less dependent on me and she has bonded with her father," Zanele said.
The time her family spent Johannesburg was very quiet. "It was hard because I am used to having the three of us together but then I was alone and bored, and at the same time wondering if they were alright," she said. But Zanele had an opportunity to visit them and said she saw that they were having fun and the environment was child-friendly.
Now the Zumas wait to see if South Africa thinks Bonga and Sinothando are the best father and daughter on TV.
