Renowned South African producer and composer Lebohang Moroke, famously known as Lebo M, has taken an honest stance when reflecting on the state of the industry in modern South Africa.
The 60-year-old who managed to build quite a reputation for himself following countless amounts of work and his involvement with the Lion King productions, as well as the animated film Tarzan, among many others, recently reflected on the milestones he achieved this year during the announcement of his upcoming show in Cape Town.
This year the iconic music giant celebrates his 60th birthday, and his mother’s 100th birthday and was recently part of the 30th Anniversary of the Lion King Live production that took place earlier this year.
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While this co-insides with South Africa’s 30 years of Democracy, Lebo gave his honest opinion on his views of the arts industry in South Africa during an interview with the news and entertainment publication Citizen News.
Here he highlighted that the word democratic is something he often struggles to utter. He revealed that the reason he often finds himself reluctant to speak about a democratic South Africa is because he sees the arts and entertainment industry as being one of the most disadvantaged in the country.
“In the last 30 years, I think it’s the most disrespected industry. Artists have proven over and over again without resources, governmental support and business it’s not just government alone. I don’t think there’s much to celebrate yet,” he explained.
Lebo says at this stage South Africa can’t compete with those on the global stage. This is due to there not being enough infrastructure, programs and assistance that would mould our local talent at home. Lebo says that people like himself, Black Coffee and others have been the exception and made it with little support from government and businesses back home.
Because of this, he adds: “There is nothing to celebrate that my government has done significantly for the entire creative industry.”
