The Real Network The Ma(i)de Sessions

The Ma(i)de Sessions

Domestic workers and cleaners occupy a unique position in a society. They are simultaneously the most ubiquitous and invisible among us. They are ever-present in our personal, professional and public spaces but often go largely undetected. These women have the potential to be the most powerful and astute social commentators as they hold a mirror to ourselves, to our children, and to our fellow citizens. Be a fly on the wall as we gain their unique perspectives on an interesting range of matters that characterise South African society.
Weekly English South Africa Society & Culture · Health & Fitness
69 Episodes
20 – 40

Undressing ReDress

The ladies FINALLY chat to the three UJ students who were chosen as the winners for the redesign of the domestic worker uniform for Ma(i)de's ReDress Project. They share the philosophy behind their design as well as how profoundly this process has enriched the ways they practice as SA fashion…
18 May 2017 40 min

Help-less?

Our dear Tuliza Sindi has never had help. Everrrrr(ish). And yet she's alive and well to tell the tale. To many this may sound a not-so-small miracle. Right?!? How on earth did she do it? A combination of boys and neighbours apparently, and some healthy childhood... mechanisation. A fascinating journey,…
11 May 2017 42 min

Wanted... or unwanted?

Would you respond to a job ad that required you to smell 'nice', bath twice a day, be free of illness, and hand over your passport? How exactly do you screen someone's bath times anyway? What is this cryptic illness? And, isn't it called trafficking when you take away someone's…
4 May 2017 53 min

A Road Twip with Elana Afrika

Where is the intersection between work and leisure? In a recent Twitter faux pas on the 'therapeutic value' of domestic work... we think Miss Elana Afrika may have gotten ummm... lost in Twanslation. Join us as we try to map her route and leave a few breadcrumbs along the way.
28 Apr 2017 40 min

Innocent Creative

It’s one thing to want to pursue a career you can get a degree in that your parents don’t quite approve of, like art history or theatre arts. It’s no coincidence that both of those examples have the word ‘art’ in it. Now imagine explaining to your parents that you…
20 Apr 2017 41 min

Redress through Dress

The Nocebo effect, as panellist Timothy Maurice rightfully pointed out, is when a negative expectation of a phenomenon or experience causes it to have a more negative effect than it otherwise should. Sometimes if we expect to be judged in the clothes that we wear, we will feel judged, even…
13 Apr 2017 1 hr 15 min

Our Urban Glitch

Urban design is, simply put, about public space: the spaces that we share. What we are comfortable to share is a reflection of the type of people that we are. Others learn about us through our public spaces. Apartheid spatial planning designed hostile and exclusive public spaces. The only thing…
23 Mar 2017 42 min

International Women's Day Special

To extend the International Women's Day celebrations from yesterday, The Ma(i)de Sessions dug up some good ol' inspiring moments of womanhood throughout the shows to date and as you can imagine, there are plenty! The ladies have somehow managed to narrow it down to 5 moments; 5 whole moments that's…
9 Mar 2017 27 min

The Ma(i)de Sessions - Broken Home: Curse or Opportunity?

Innocent and Koketso are 21 year old twins. They have only known each other for a month. Innocent, a boy, lived with their mother and Koketso, a girl, lived with their father, with only one of them aware that the other exists. Innocent was told that his father had died…
2 Mar 2017 43 min

The Wage to Live

Nigel "the white guy they don't want you to know about" Branken discusses how he got to pay a living wage, rather than the minimum wage to his then domestic worker, Loice. He helps us understand how this is no small feat, by tying into what we've come to know…
23 Feb 2017 1 hr 02 min

The Help: Review Part 2

The ladies round up their impressions on The Help - the movie that tracks the journey of Skeeter, a young white female writer determined to write something meaningful with the courageous black maids in her town of Jackson, Mississippi in 1962.
16 Feb 2017 1 hour

The Help: Review Pt 1.

Over the next two weeks the ladies review The Help, a 2011 American film directed and written by Tate Taylor, and adapted from Kathryn Stockett's 2009 novel of the same name. The film and novel recount the story of young white woman and aspiring journalist Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan. The story…
9 Feb 2017 52 min

School of Hustle

Lebo didn't matriculate with her class at age 18. Among other things, she fell pregnant and had to get her hustle on to support her child. This saw her leave her home in Limpopo to become a domestic worker in Johannesburg... which didn't last for long because she has always…
2 Feb 2017 36 min

Clothes by Christine

Ever heard of Clothes by Christine? Bet you haven't, so remember you heard it here first! Christine is a domestic worker by day and designer/tailor extraordinaire by night. She's also her very own model, in more ways than one. The ladies interview her and uncover a business sensibility that could…
26 Jan 2017 34 min

R.O.H.I.

Julie, much like her employer Penny, is a national asset - or what socio-business analysts might term a return on human investment (R.O.H.I. - it's totally a thing...). She is the classic example of the benefits that accrue from treating our domestic workers as partners and equals. This is an…
19 Jan 2017 50 min

The Ma(i)de Model

The Ma(i)de Model unleashes the most underestimated in a society by harnessing the ironic yet insane power of silence, invisibility, and obscurity. We run quite a few pioneering ventures that awaken historically unheard voices whilst elevating them to their rightful place in our social and economic order. As a third…
12 Jan 2017 35 min

Ma(i)de Resolute

Not uninspired by Her Majesty of talk, Oprah Winfrey, the ladies kick off 2017 with lessons learnt from their favourite shows of 2016. These may look and sound like New Year's resolutions but that's just a coincidence...Oprah would NEVER make everyman New Year's Resolutions...only timeless pearls of wisdom.
5 Jan 2017 51 min

The Spatial Canvas

The Ma(i)de Sessions hosts explore architecture's social and psychological properties and the impact that it has on domestic workers in South Africa, i.e. how does physical space affect our head-space? South Africa's history in particular is a prime example of how space has been used to segregate, oppress, exploit, and…
15 Dec 2016 58 min

On par?

Do you know the difference between the au pair industry and the domestic work industry? The origin might surprise you, but it will really clarify the dynamics. Our resident au pair Mbali is interviewed to uncover the real and perceived differences between such similar roles, as well as what created…
1 Dec 2016 58 min

Office Savvy with Nelly

Office cleaners are a huge asset to companies. Think about it. Who would want to work or spend their money in squalor? How would it affect your day if the office restrooms were stinky and the coffee station was unstocked. How would it affect your business if the client slipped…
17 Nov 2016 23 min
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