The 14-episode drama series has been produced in four of South Africa’s official languages (English, isiZulu, seSotho, and Afrikaans) and is being broadcast on approximately 40 community radio stations across South Africa.

The drama has been developed on entertainment-education principles which is described by ABC Ulwazi as “the process of purposely designing and implementing a media message to both entertain and educate in order to increase audience members’ knowledge about an issue, create favourable attitudes, shift social norms, and change the overt behaviour of individuals and communities.”

According to ABC Ulwazi, the characters in the drama portray situations and life challenges that are similar to ones experienced by listeners - making it easier for listeners to remember information and recall it when necessary, as well as to apply the information to their own lives and in their own language. The series is designed mainly for female listeners between the ages of 25 to 45. Scripts were developed based on qualitative interviews and current research of related themes.

The main focus of this series is to increase people’s awareness and understanding of HIV and AIDS prevention and also to challenge social norms that continue to reinforce the vulnerability of women in HIV/AIDS-related issues. Organisers say the drama falls in line with the government’s HIV and AIDS and STIs Strategic Plan for South Africa. It focuses on prevention and on encouraging counselling and testing and is also designed to deliver messages about prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and the reduction of multiple concurrent partners (MCP). Each of the 14 episodes has specific message theme, which includes:

• highlighting the social, economic, and cultural factors contributing to multiple concurrent partners (MCP);
• transactional sex and intergenerational partnerships as factors contributing to MCP;
• partner reduction and correct use of condoms as preventative measures against HIV;
• importance of getting tested for HIV; and
• exploring possibilities of successful relationships between HIV negative and HIV positive partners.

The series takes place in a small peri-urban town called Empilweni. The main characters include Dima (the shebeen queen), Slindile (the promiscuous best friend), and Thobi (the loyal adviser friend). Initially Dima’s dilemma is exposed when she discovers her husband of ten years had been engaging in extra marital relations. This inevitably leads to her discovery of her HIV positive status.

HIV/AIDS

According to ABC Ulwazi, young women, people living in informal settlements and the economically poor are a particularly vulnerable segment of the countries' population to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. ABC Ulwazi was motivated to create this project by evidence showing that radio or community radios are the optimal vehicle of communication as it is widely accessible across the country and can provide information to people in their own language, thus bypassing barriers of illiteracy or levels of education.