LAST Friday August 21, 2015, precisely at 20:00 hours, ZNBC television aired yet another amazing documentary entitled ‘Legendary Landscape’ by a legendary reporter, Luckson Nthani.
Apparently, it was only three weeks ago when this platform extolled Luckson for the marvelous package he delivered when he covered the AU summit in South Africa.
Iam proud once again to give kudos to Nthani by stating that the documentary which he featured Angela Limwanya was a qualitative piece of work!’
I would state here that the class of production took  intense hard work and months of polishing the documentary.
Basically the documentary details little-known facts about the Victoria Falls in the tourist capital Livingstone, its islands and gorges, including the legends of the local Leya people around it.
Think of the research done prior to the shooting itself, and how long it took the production team to do the groundwork?
The visibly dangerous terrain, beautiful beaches and sites not seen by many before were well captured by Nthani and Angela in this documentary.
It was such an interesting piece with a unique script infused with a lot of humor making it a rare art forcing one to be glued to the TV.
The degree of creativity that was attached to this production made it standout from other poorly executed documentaries on ZNBC.
I remember eating A slightly cold dinner as I could not afford missing even a second off the documentary.
These are rare local productions that are not just interesting to watch but beneficial to the country’s economy as they greatly enhance tourism.
I would strongly recommend the repeat of the programme with investment in publicity during the main 19:00 hour’s bulletin so that those who were deprived due to power outage or not knowing about it would have a chance to watch it.
With such brilliant productions, it begs a question why ZNBC has lamentably failed to utilise such talent to produce more quality documentaries.
The Legendary Landscape was a full one hour documentary but because of it’s captivating nature, it appeared like a 30 minutes piece.
This platform received two interesting mails on the same programme of which I will share with you.
John Zimba of Lusaka writes
“Hi Sam,
Did you see Luckson Nthani’s documentary the Legendary Landscape?
In case you did not see it due to load shedding, I would like to share with you that for a long time, I have not seen such a brilliant production.
Kindly find out through your platform if there are other such  interesting documentaries by the duo-Luckson and Angela.
I remember Luckson used to produce a programme called ‘This Zambian Town’ which was a darling to many viewers. Why can’t ZNBC bring back the programme?
It will be interesting to watch considering the vast development and changes of provinces and creation of more districts.
If it is expensive to produce, I am very sure ZNBC cannot find it difficult to find sponsors should they float the idea.
That is my thinking and my regards”
Thank you so much for the thought, this platform believes the Corporate Affairs Manager Masuzyo Ndhlovu will shed more light on what you have asked. I thank you.
Mildred Chewe of Ndola writes
“Hello Mr Sam,
I really enjoy your columns and would like to agree with you on what you wrote last week on the Born and Bred Awards. It seems ZNBC enjoys criticism because this is not the first time they are making such avoidable mistakes.
Anyway, I wrote to share my view on the documentary Legendary Landscape by Luckson Nthani and Angela Limwanya. It was breathtaking!
I must commend the two reporters for doing such a wonderful job of revealing some hidden beauty of Livingstone like the beach. I have already planned a trip to Livingstone, thanks to Luckson and Angela.
We need more of such,” Indeed thanks to the creative duo and it is only hoped that ZNBC seesnbeyond the Legendary Landscape where the utilisation of these two reporters is concerned.
Now, those who are on the same page with me were Idols SA is concerned would agree that the last Sunday one looked like a more defining stage for the competition.
Those who made it to the top 16 are few steps away from grabbing the grand prize, though indicators are showing that a lady might this time scoop the prize.
However, what was dramatic on Sunday was the withdrawing of Nonhle Mhlongo (29) from Durban after being named top 16 due to personal reasons.
The judges unanimously decided to give her spot to Amanda Antony (22) whom they initially sent home after it came to choosing between her and Nadia Herbst (20) from Paarl.
The top 16 now are, in alphabetical order: Amanda Antony (22)   who was initially sent home after it came down to choosing between her and Nadia Herbst.
Bridgitt Leahy (18) who blew the judges away with her original song at the Durban auditions hails from Creighton in the Southern Drakensberg and currently lives with her mom in Pietermaritzburg,where she is being home-schooled.
Dineo Moseki (21) lives in Vryburg with her sisters and nieces and nephews, where she works as a full-time professional singer.
Elwira Standili (22) from Worcester gave up her Management Assistance studies once she won that coveted Golden Ticket at the Idols SA auditions in Cape Town this February.
Karabo Mogane (24)from Nelspruit studied Geoinformatics at the University of Stellenbosch before getting into the Idols SA Season 11.
Loyiso Gijana from Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape is 16, the youngest singer in the competition. Up until now he was a learner at Muir College in Uitenhage.
Lungisa Xhamela (24) from Langa in the Cape gave up his studies in medical bioscience at the University of the Western Cape to pursue his musical dreams full-time, for the sake of his two-year-old daughter.
Mmatema Moreni (23) from Limpopo qualified as a professional linguist who speaks four languages. Before she entered Idols she also worked as a part-time marketing assistant and worked for her church on the side.
Nadia Herbst has already won the title of Miss Teen Cape Town and Miss Teen Western Cape, and now she has a third title in her sights: South Africa’s new Idol!
Nina Terblanche (17) hails from Nelspruit, where she is a Grade 10 scholar who has Music as a school subject, and also sings in the school choir and competes in Eisteddfods.
Phila Madlingozi’s name may sound familiar, because at age 25 he has starred in drama series like “Intersexions” and “Mutual Friends”, and has posted many of his own music videos on YouTube.
Rhema Varrie (21) was encouraged to go into music by his father, a Pastor, who spotted his potential at an early age.
Ruan Grobbelaar (24) from Somerset West was studying software development at the University of Stellenbosch when he got his Golden Ticket at the Cape Town auditions in February.
Shenay O’Brien (25) is making history as the competition’s first drag queen in the voting rounds Siphelele Ngcobo (24) from Durban has been making his living as a singer since 2012.
Thami Shobede (27) hails from Mthubathuba but is currently based in Johannesburg, where he worked for Transnet before making it into the Top 16 of Idols SA 11. He also plays the  more drama this Sunday as the eight men battle it out for the public vote. Let’s end here today.
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