Siyayinqoba is one of the well-known health brands in the country with a national footprint. Siyayinqoba is on its 9th series and consistently gets a viewership of a million people per episode. Siyayinqoba is unique because of its training of community journalists who find and report on stories that are often not covered in mainstream media. It is a 13 part series consisting of 2 x 12-minute biographical stories per episode focusing on the health and well-being of girls and young women. Issues covered include menstruation issues, gender-based violence and achieving financial independence.
In 2016, Siyayinqoba branched into working with young women and girls in KZN through the DREAMS programme. DREAMS stands for Determined, Resilient, Empowered, Aids-free, Mentored and Safe. DREAMS aims to implement high impact, evidence-based interventions in five districts in South Africa using a comprehensive package of social, economic and biomedical interventions. CMT has aligned its face-to-face outreach work with the mass media content in Siyayinqoba season 9, and four young mentors who run the Clubs were trained to research, develop and produce the content for their stories through CMT’s community journalism programme. This allowed the young women to help choose the documentary topics, voice their opinion and gain skills in journalism and media production, providing a platform for them to tell their own stories which are often not covered by the mainstream media. Naturally, the “realness” of the Siyayinqoba stories shines through, and the voices of the young women involved ring clear and pure.
The latest series of Siyayinqoba tells the stories of real South African young women who are at high risk for HIV infection and show how they deal with growing up in South Africa, highlighting positive interventions and ways to change gender norms, increase self-esteem and decrease the risk of exposure to HIV and violence. This season also included topics such as access to sanitary towels, gender-based violence and financial literacy.
Since its inception in 2001, the Siyayinqoba brand has touched the lives of many and continues to instil a culture of positive and responsible living. We look forward to continuing working to inform and inspire!
