adminMelissa Mpofu Showbiz Editor
THE South African edition of Big Brother – Big Brother Mzansi (BBM) reality show which returned this year after 12 years of silence is already keeping people busy on social networks as two of its housemates are continuously having unprotected sex yet Lovers Plus – a condom brand is one of the key sponsors of the show.
Considering that Africa’s rainbow nation, South Africa is a nation made up of many people with a multiplicity of traditions – watching adults having sex on national TV did not come as a surprise to many but what was shocking was Mandla and Lexi’s decision not to use condoms, especially considering that HIV and Aids infection cases are on the rise in Africa.
Dubbed “Mandlexi”, the couple’s two-week courtship began with a sensual massage and escalated quickly to late-night talks and showers. The first instance happened two weeks ago when the two paired up on national television, under covers though. The following day, Mandla was seen asking Big Brother for morning-after pills, showing how concerned he was about the act and its effects. It seemed Mandla was only worried about pregnancy, and seemed to have forgotten about the biggest issue of the possibility of getting a sexually transmitted infection or contracting HIV.
Twitter erupted this weekend when Mandla, a shop owner from Sebokeng and Lexi, a customer care consultant from Cape Town “got it on” again during the popular “Shower Hour” without protection. Twitter was flooded with explicit pictures of the two in the act and most twitter followers reacted negatively.
Miss Vee @VeeDzingwe tweeted: “so people perform unprotected sex on big brother mzansi, ohk,” with Noxolo Nkabinde @LadyNoxx adding: “If people are going to do the do on live TV everyday, at least use protection.”
Sifiso Ndlovu @crazy_charles also tweeted: “When did big brother mzansi become a porn movie tjo #lexi and mandla no no control your hormones, this is public television for peeps sake! (sic).”
Katleho Motloung @jazzynova85 countered though tweeting: “Some of y’all are acting all hollier than thou on Mandla nd Lexi’s expense, knowing very well that you’ve done it all.”
Though Big Brother has made condoms accessible to all housemates by strategically placing them in the house, housemates still don’t seem to want to use them.
Judging from Big Brother Africa (BBA) housemates’ behaviour over the years, it seems housemates believe that for one to enter the Big Brother house, they will be clear of any disease as all housemates be it in BBA or BBM go for medicals before entering the house. What people seem to forget is that HIV has a window period which is a period of about three to six months after a person is infected during which they will not test positive. The housemates usually go for medicals a month or a few weeks before the show starts.
Affirming this, last year’s BBA: The Chase had a case where Tanzania’s Nando went to town complaining that Selly from Ghana had infected him with a sexually transmitted disease and that he was being treated for Chlamydia, showing that the two had unprotected sex.
“You know I hate that bitch! I’m bleeping frustrated because that bitch (Selly) gave me an STD!” Nando told other housemates.
Housemates are undeniably, frustrated people living in a confined place with little entertainment as they do not watch television and don’t have mobile phones, but always have an overflow of alcohol with temptations from ladies dressed in “teeny weeny” bikinis.
Should Big Brother be blamed for not providing housemates with adequate entertainment which has left them with no option but to entertain themselves?
Also, before judging housemates for their behaviour, one has to know that they are playing the game for themselves and are not ambassadors. They entered the show as individuals representing themselves.
With 20 days left for the show to come to an end, it remains to be seen how the Mandlexi “friends with benefits” arrangement will go after BBM as Big Brother is well known as a show of plots. People enter the show for different reasons, some for fun, some for relationships and some to while up time, but most enter for the money as there is a R1 million jackpot prize to be won.
Relationships built in the house usually fade away the moment one steps out of the house and goes back to reality.
Big Brother has always been the subject of controversy and criticism among the public especially in Africa as people have questioned what the show aims to teach people. Some have dubbed the show as immoral and “un-African” with some families actually having gone a step further to block Big Brother channels on their DStv decoders to prevent their children from watching it.
As M-Net director for Local General Entertainment SA, Yolisa Phahle once said: “Big Brother is the ultimate reality show. It’s unscripted, unrehearsed and literally, anything can happen. You’ll see everything as it happens . . . from the friendships and feuds, to the controversy and final contender. This is real TV in real time, 24/7.”
Online Reporter