By Doreen Mokgolo
South African actor Khulu Skenjana – best known for his roles in the popular television serials Machine Gun Preacher, Zulu and Zama Zama – has said he will vote for the first time on Wednesday, 29 May.
Skenjana, 42, recently joined the Umkhonto Wesiswe (MK) Party because he believes it will fight for and represent the rights of content creators.
Speaking to Scrolla.Africa, the actor said it didn’t make sense to him to vote in previous elections as he felt the system was just a continuation of the apartheid system under a different leadership.
“I felt it was not for South Africa, and participating actively in that mess didn’t feel right. It is through God and maturity that I decided to go into politics to help make a difference in the country,” he said.
“I chose MK because their manifesto spoke to me, and I felt they represent the rights and challenges of black people.”
Skenjana said that during Jacob Zuma’s presidency, Zuma rolled out the Copyright Amendment Bill process, which is still in the balance.
“Our current government wants to add the Fair Use clause to the bill, which will suffocate content creators further. If passed, the bill will benefit everyone but the artists,” he said.
“They are only pushing the bill’s amendment now because it is election time, and they want to be seen saying and doing something right.”
Skenjana said artists are not taken seriously and are struggling so much that they can’t afford medical aid or UIF.
“Some can’t even afford to keep up with the payments of their funeral policies to the point where when they die, we have to donate towards their funerals,” he said.
Skenjana said only those close to the government leaders receive funding and other benefits for artists.
“White people receive funding to produce content that depicts the black community negatively and do very little to build them,” he said.
“Our communities are known to the world as crime zones even when positive stories exist. As artists, we need to change this narrative.”
Pictured above: Khulu Skenjana.
Image source: Supplied
