At the funeral of beloved South African gospel star Solly Moholo this past Saturday, Dr. JJ Tabane, host of eNCA's "Power to Truth," offered a heartfelt critique of the nation's failure to support its artists during difficult times.
Tabane did not mince his words, calling out society for failing to come together to provide financial assistance that might have saved Moholo’s life.
"This society has failed Solly Moholo. It’s as simple as that," he said.
"We couldn’t raise R700,000 to save the life of someone who is an icon, our icon. With all the stokvels, businesses, and BEE deals.
“With all the spaza shops we own, all the businesses we own, all the professionals in high ranking jobs, CEOs of companies, nobody, nobody was shaken enough to say, let's put this money there. Of course, life is not guaranteed.”
Tabane referenced Tom London, a white veteran broadcaster, who managed to raise R300,000 in just two days after voicing his frustrations with treatment at Helen Joseph Hospital.
"He made a very big noise. Within two days, and I don't even have to tell you who gave him money, but he was in a private hospital having raised R300,000 to move from Helen Joseph to a private hospital. So the question is, as black people, have we given up on ourselves for self determination?“ Tabane asked.
Tabane also expressed frustration with the lack of structured support for artists, saying that they are only celebrated after their death.
“We have a tendency to celebrate people after their demise.
"When they are alive, we don’t give them their flowers. A number of SABC radio stations, must call them out, SABC, was not playing the music of Solly Moholo. They are playing it every two minutes.
“It's a total shame, actually, to find that the public broadcaster that's supposed to elevate our icons doesn't do that.”
Tabane also did not shy away from criticising the government's role, particularly the decision to honour Moholo with a provincial funeral.
“Let me tell you, without even having the facts that I'm sure that cost of that designation as an official funeral will cost millions. It will cost four times what you could have spent to save a life of a person. This is nonsense.It is nonsense, and we must not tolerate a society.“
He also questioned the absence of initiatives to help artists manage their finances and healthcare needs.
“Why is there no program to support artists to turn their art into business, and they're given support so that they're able to manage their finances, they're able to actually make a success of those businesses?”
He also added that “the fact that as a black nation, forget about other people, we could not rally together, right, to save a life that we so adore. And it's this tendency. It's a tendency to like funerals. I don't know where this tendency comes from”.
He concluded with a rallying call for self-responsibility. “Society must wake up and realise that we are on our own. And the artist themselves must understand that generally, nobody owes you anything. You got to be responsible.
“You get some gig, save. Invest, so that your children don't starve when you are gone.”
IOL