South African Tourism and Red Bull have partnered on “What We Know”, a four-part documentary series that explores the people, communities and experiences behind South Africans who have competed and succeeded on the world stage.
The series, launched during South Africa’s Tourism Month, takes a different approach to destination storytelling. Instead of relying primarily on familiar images of wildlife, landscapes and major attractions, “What We Know” puts people at the centre of the story and examines how the places and communities around them have influenced their journeys.
The documentary asks a simple but wide-ranging question: what is it about South Africa that produces people capable of competing and winning internationally?
The answers explored through the series include resilience, diversity, community, creativity and the ability to find opportunity in difficult circumstances. But the programme also looks beyond individual achievement, using the lives of its subjects to examine the environment that helped shape them.
For South African Tourism, the partnership with Red Bull provides another way to present the country to audiences. Red Bull brings an established global platform in sport, culture and storytelling, while South African Tourism is using the collaboration to connect those stories with the destination itself.
“What We Know” is hosted by comedian, actor, presenter, producer and storyteller Eugene Khoza, who travels across South Africa on a road trip to explore what makes South Africans world-class.
Across four 24-minute episodes, Khoza meets athletes, gamers, musicians, influencers, fans and ordinary South Africans. The journey moves through different landscapes, cultures and communities, linking the achievements of individuals with the places and people that have played a role in their development.
That connection between achievement and place is central to the tourism message behind the series. South Africa is already widely recognised for its natural attractions and wildlife, but the documentary seeks to add another dimension to the country’s international image by showing the people behind its identity.
“For South African Tourism, this is the value of the collaboration: using stories that already have the power to engage audiences to create a deeper connection with the destination,” said Sithembile Ndaba, Chief Marketing Officer at South African Tourism.
Ndaba said the series provides an opportunity to present South Africa through stories that feel authentic while highlighting the country’s people as an important part of its tourism appeal.
“South Africa has always been known for its incredible landscapes and wildlife, but our greatest asset is also our people,” she said. “This series is the perfect opportunity for us to tell their stories, their resilience, their creativity and their ability to achieve against the odds tell us something about the country itself.”
The collaboration arrives during Tourism Month, a period that gives South Africa an opportunity to promote the country’s tourism offering while drawing attention to the people and experiences that form part of the visitor experience.
For the partners behind “What We Know”, the timing also creates an opportunity to move beyond conventional destination promotion. The series uses personal stories as a route into the wider tourism narrative, allowing audiences to encounter South Africa through its communities, culture and landscapes rather than through promotional imagery alone.
Ndaba said the documentary is intended to build curiosity about the country by showing audiences the places and communities that helped shape people who have gone on to achieve internationally.
“What We Know allows us to explore that story through people who have achieved on the world stage, while also taking audiences into the communities and places that shaped them,” she said. “That is a powerful way to build curiosity about South Africa and ultimately encourage people to experience the country for themselves.”
The first episode of “What We Know” premiered on SABC 1 and SABC+ on September 24, 2026, at 22:00. The remaining episodes are scheduled for weekly release, with the second episode on October 1, followed by episodes on October 8 and October 15.
For South African Tourism, the project represents an effort to make destination storytelling more personal. For Red Bull, it extends the company’s storytelling approach into a series rooted in South African talent, culture and place.
Together, the four episodes offer an alternative portrait of South Africa, one built around the people who live there, the communities that shape them and the environments from which their stories emerge.
