L'Afrique du Sud va aussi avoir sa propre version avec comme animateur Monsieur Tokyo Sexwale???!!??
http://www.pretorianews.co.za/index.php ... Id=2483358
'The Apprentice': Tokyo picks up where Trump left off
April 15, 2005
By Pacm
Tokyo Sexwale is the modern face of big business in South Africa. As such he was the perfect choice as our own Donald Trump in the local version of The Apprentice - a business reality show with a strong African flavour - which starts broadcasting, appropriately, on Youth Day (June 16) on SABC3.
In the driver's seat, Sexwale is big in stature, bold in presentation and - best of all - has no hair. In the American version, Trump's hair has been as much a topic of discussion as the contestants.
"I'm the former many things," said Sexwale at a Press conference hosted by SABC3 yesterday to publicise The Apprentice, which starts shooting on Sunday. "But the former I like most is premier of Gauteng because I had the most power. I have lost all that and lost my hair!"
But when the talk drifts to politics, he says he won't be returning to government. "The ANC is my church but being part of government was just a small part of my journey."
He points out that, through no choice of his own, he wasn't working for 28 years (as a freedom fighter who was imprisoned), five years were spent in government, and now he's in business and loving the new challenges.
When offered the showy job as chairman in The Apprentice, he started scratching around and discovered that there were many elements he liked.
This was perhaps best encapsulated by the acting head of programming of SABC3, Eddie Manzingana, who said: "The struggle is not ended. The battlefields have simply moved from the streets to the boardrooms."
The vision for the programme is all about changing lives and not only those of the 16 contestants who will be battling for the big prize - a job at Sexwale's Mvelaphanda group of companies.
"We've won political democracy. Now we need economic democracy as well," said Sexwale. "And we must do it our own way."
Sexwale ("urged by my wife", he says with a wink) selected two women as his on-screen assistants. "I wanted to send a very positive message," he said when introducing former CEO of a bank, Wendy Lucas Bull, and his current media adviser, Gugu Msibi.
"It's very important in this changing country that we have new rolemodels, we bring ethics in business to the table and that we emphasise humane leadership.
"I believe in capitalism with a face," he explained when asked about his former socialist leanings. "Wealth creation is adding value to your country. It's a nice thing. I'm the children of the women who used to make tea for the bosses in the boardroom."
And that's one of the most important features of the local series. "We want to send a strong message that dreams can be achieved."
And if anyone was wondering about his television charm, don't give it a second thought.
At the end of 1994 as the first premier of Gauteng, he was the guest of Tannie Evita and I was there for the recording as he brushed away a tear when Mimi Coertse sang O Boereplaas, a song, he said, they had heard on Robben Island.
He sailed through the recording with Evita doing the giggling rather than Tokyo, who was as charming as he was comfortable in front of the cameras.
But this time, he won't have to be the one that has to do the charming. They're still pondering about the Trump phase that became a rallying cry in the US, "you're fired".
"You're probably waiting for me to say hamba or duma," said Sexwale, but he and his two sidekicks agree that while they want to come up with something uniquely South African, it will have to emerge organically from the programme.
"It's a learning curve for all of us," says the man of whom former classmate Dora Sithole (food editor of True Love magazine) says; "I can't believe this man sitting on a wine farm is the same boy who shared my bread and jam at school. And he hasn't changed a bit!"
Une photo de Monsieur sexwale
Ça l'air vraiment bon comme show, faudrait qu'on l'écoute pis qu'on en parle dans la section ici!!!