To say that the latest installment of the local series, Society - aired on SABC1 every Tuesday at 20:30 - has been well received, is an understatement. The 'sex and the city' type of following it has received, runs far deeper than the fashion displayed on the latter, but rather the relatable aspects of the show, the real 'I’ve been there' moments that the characters encounter.

Zandile Msutwana of White Wedding fame plays Akua Yenana, stockbroker and now lady of leisure. In this third season, which has aired concurrently with the second season, she finally decides to end her year of saying yes, which resulted in some hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking dating moments. Her heart is finally won by the most unlikely of suitors, the elderly Robert Woods, her Prince Charming, albeit a grey-haired Prince Charming.

Innocentia Raisibe Phemba, known to her fans as Inno, is caricatured by Lele Ledwaba, the man-eating weather-reading celebrity, loses her weather gig which provided her with her daily 15 minutes - or in her case two-minutes of fame, finally finds salvation, literally. This is as a result of not having the public’s scrutinising eye on her. However even her own mother, Aus’ Lala played by doyenne, Grace Mahlaba, doubts that her narcissistic soul can be saved - making for great comedy between two such capable performers.

Dr. Lois Gumede, nee van Wyk, battles to put her marriage back together, while once again reconciling her ambitions as a career doctor and her dedication to her family, especially her beautiful daughter, Dineo. Lois’ tale, depicted by the up-and-coming and multi talented, is one that many young black female corporate climbers, living in the large metropolises of South Africa, can relate to. However the means she uses to cope with all the pressures, might just be her downfall.

Lastly the gay character of Beth Mazibuko, portrayed by the intense theatre and film actress, goes through a metamorphosis that is at once an identity crisis and self actualisation. Her character is a vehicle for depicting some of the issues that lesbians living in South Africa go through. With the constitution came freedom of expression and sexuality, her journey demonstrates that there is a fine line between freedom of expression and hate speech, an issue that affects all aspects of South African life whether heterosexual or homosexual.

and who’ve worked in all the various levels of film making from acting; directing to writing; donned the dual hats of producer/writer for this project – which has only improved on the success of the first installment of the firs series that aired on SABC1 in 2006 and 2007. “We worked extremely hard on the project.” says Matsetela “We didn’t want to disappoint and so we set the bar higher for ourselves.”

Society is currently one of the most-watched drama series on television. “We wanted to improve on everything,” says Mamabolo “from the scripts to the quality of the picture, to the sound… everything! And think we did the best we could, on the budget we had.” And what of the competition on the other channels, that have a similar sex and city format? “We are lucky because we had a head start, and were able to hold on to our viewers as a result,” responded Matsetela. “Besides the more productions there are on, the better it is for the industry. It’s a difficult time in the industry and it’s good to know that there are crew and cast that are still working in spite of everything,” was Mamabolo’s answer.

Society, a presentation of Puo Pha Productions, is currently airing on SABC 1 every Tuesday at 20:30. It will be on air until the finale episode flights on 4 May.