Cape Town Host Returns for Ninth Season as VIA Launches Five New Local Shows

Leandie du Randt settles into her ninth season of Gesels on 8 August, and for South African viewers tuning in on a Saturday evening, the conversations she has built her career around, candid exchanges about careers, personal journeys and life’s turning points, are back with a fresh guest list and a few new ideas.

That premiere kicks off a month in which VIA brings five new locally produced seasons to air, each rooted in the real experiences of South Africans navigating sport, wellness, farming, entrepreneurship and the quieter work of finding balance.

Gesels, sponsored by Lamelle and airing Saturdays at 18:00, welcomes guests including Daniëlla van Heerden, Anrich Herbst, Amalia Uys, Rolene Strauss, Melanie du Bois and Nicole Holm. The season also stretches into practical territory: cookbook author Louise Volschenk brings kitchen ideas, while Lyntjie Jaars demystifies everyday technology in a segment called Tech vir tannies, a small but telling sign that the show is listening to what its audience actually needs.

By contrast, Boerbokke takes viewers outdoors. Hosted by Breyton Paulse and sponsored by Vleissentraal, the show follows former Springboks as they trade the rugby field for farm life. Each episode visits a former player to talk rugby, farming and what comes after sport. Hempies du Toit is the first guest. The show’s timing is deliberate: it premieres on 11 August, airing Tuesdays at 19:00, as the first Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour gets underway in South Africa, a quadrennial tournament featuring eight matches this year.

Ons gesels balans, presented by Sherlin Barends in association with Vitaderm, takes on something harder to measure. The four-part series, starting 13 August on Thursdays at 18:00, gathers guests including Lynelle Kenned, Ricky Schroeder, Marciel Hopkins-Lourens and Natasha van der Merwe to speak openly about burnout, motherhood, career changes, trauma and self-care. Experts contribute practical guidance on meditation, skincare, sleep, breathing and posture. Short episodes, real stakes.

Meanwhile, Hier sit die manne enters its 13th season with Frank Rautenbach hosting in what the show calls his man cave. Sponsored by KIA and premiering 15 August, Saturdays at 17:00, this season’s guest list spans long-distance runner Adriaan Wildschutt, Blitzbok Dewald Human, mountain biker and content creator Simon Stofberg, former Springbok Joe van Niekerk, singer and actor Loukmaan Adams, private investigator Mike Bolhuis, former Springbok physiotherapist René Naylor and ultramarathon legend Bruce Fordyce. Their conversations move across sporting achievements, mental health, recovery, creativity, loss and life’s new chapters. A cycling segment, sponsored by Platō Coffee with Squirt as co-sponsor, features Pieter and Danielle du Toit sharing practical cycling advice with Rautenbach.

Rounding out the new seasons is Maak my ‘n miljoenêr, which returns for its fourth run on 24 August, airing Mondays at 19:00. Albert van Wyk, who made his first million at 22, mentors high school learners as they develop business ideas. He has said the show is built around the guidance he wishes he had received, and across 13 episodes he aims to make financial independence feel less abstract for young South Africans.

All five new seasons sit alongside continuing programming, including Kom ons braai, Kom ons braai: familie en vriende and the weekday lifestyle show Goeiemôre, good morning. Full scheduling details are available at https://inboundsa.com/via-new-series-august-2026/

Whether it is a teenager pitching a business idea or a retired Springbok learning to read the land, the question running through VIA’s August slate is the same: what does life look like once the first chapter closes?