SMWX (Sizwe Mpofu‑Walsh Xperience) is a South African digital current‑affairs channel and podcast founded and hosted by Dr. Sizwe Mpofu‑Walsh. It began as a youth‑focused political project, launching its first episodes in 2018 and expanding during the 2019 election season with a WhatsApp channel designed to reach young voters. Today SMWX publishes daily news briefings and longer interviews across YouTube and audio platforms, explaining South African politics with clear analysis and access to key decision‑makers.
The show pairs rapid, same‑day explainers with hour‑long conversations featuring politicians, investigators, journalists and policy thinkers. Recent episodes have unpacked parliamentary inquiries such as the Madlanga Commission and featured headline‑making interviews, including a 2024 conversation with Floyd Shivambu that reverberated across national media. The channel has grown from 50,000 subscribers in 2023 to more than 100,000 by 2024 and surpassed 300,000 in 2025, reflecting an engaged audience for rigorous, conversational political journalism. SMWX emerged from the South Africa Media Innovation Program cohort and continues to build community through memberships, live Q&As and the show’s distinctive “Ayeye!” call‑and‑response. Its audience skews young but spans the broader public and diaspora. Its mission is to widen public understanding of power and policy in South Africa by asking sharp questions, platforming diverse voices, and keeping complex stories in plain view.