Showmax and Moja Love have just dropped the trailer for their first collaboration, kuRuff, a 13-part reality show that tackles the “burden” of being a sole breadwinner. The Showmax Original premieres on 17 April 2023, with new episodes every Tuesday.
kuRuff will be hosted by Wright Ngubeni. In each episode, Ngubeni will hear from both the sole breadwinner and their dependents, before staging an intervention to try to improve the situation.
“There is no set of rules of what black tax is and how one can handle it,” says Ngubeni. “It’s rough. I think the line between responsibilities and entitlement is very complex. Ku Ruff is about changing lives in a positive way and having conversations that we, as black people, seldom have.”
Ngubeni got his break on Kideo as a five-year-old, landed the lead role on Street Life as an 11-year-old and became a household name at 13 on Generations, where he played Jonathan, the son of Akin Omotoso’s character, Khaya. Now in his 30s, he’s also starred in the likes of Rhythm City, Thuli no Thulani, and Heist, not to mention as the host of numerous shows.
Like the people on kuRuff, Wright is no stranger to black tax. “Even though I have never experienced black tax from my immediate family, there have been instances with extended family that could be considered black tax, even if I did not know what it was at the time,” says Ngubeni. “In our family, we have always tried to elevate everyone and make sure that everyone is good, so at certain times in our lives, there have been moments when the ‘burden’ fell on just one person. I am only realising this now as an adult.”
Ngubeni suggests this has a mental as well as financial impact. “Many people seem to think that black tax is just financial abuse; it is not, it is also mentally draining,” says Ngubeni. “It can be detrimental to your mental health, as I have seen with some of the people I have worked with on kuRuff.”
This is the first Showmax and Moja Love collaboration. Showmax has established itself as the best place to stream local reality TV in Africa, home to the likes of the smash hit The Real Housewives franchise as well as Life With Kelly Khumalo and DJ Zinhle: The Unexpected, the SAFTA winners for 2021 and 2022 respectively in the Best Structured Soapie Reality Show category.
Moja Love was named Coolest TV Channel of 2022 at The Sunday Times GenNext Survey and started streaming its content on Showmax last year, with Moja Love classics like X Repo and Uyajola 9/9 still charting in the Showmax Top 20.
Watch the trailer for kuRuff:
