ACTOR BLASTS KGOTHULE

 

The Weekly has uncovered a bizarre conspiracy by the MEC, HOD and Pacofs marketing manager to harass and terrorise a well-know actor who refused to support a suspended official facing corruption allegations

A well-known actor and playwright has accused the MEC for sport, arts and culture, Dan Kgothule, and his head of department (HOD), Tshwarelo Malakoane, of neglecting local artists and of ostracising him for refusing to back the suspended Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (Pacofs) artistic director, Moiloa ‘Wits’ Lesenyeho, during the latter’s disciplinary hearing.

Lesenyeho is purportedly a close friend of both Malakoane and Kgothule. Babes Mphatseng, of Moferefere lenyalong fame, revealed that he is a broken man.
Mphatseng said he is struggling to make ends meet ever since the department of arts and culture, which has a mandate to fund Free State artists’ work, dumped him like contraband. To keep his head above the water, Mphatseng is now doing odd jobs like working as a parking attendant at the Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (Pacofs).

So, what exactly went wrong for the hilarious and affable playwright who, at some stage, had the world at his feet?
It all started in May this year when Pacofs took a hard line stance against Lesenyeho, who was also Mphatseng’s colleague and friend. Lesenyeho was suspended over corruption allegations.

He was accused of misconduct and dishonesty after he allegedly pocketed thousands of rands from performances staged by the Bloemfontein theatre. Pacofs also accused Lesenyeho of demanding bribes from artists wishing to have their productions staged at Pacofs, and in some cases asking service providers to inflate their bills to the centre. His responsibilities included bringing plays and other artistic performances to Pacofs.

Lesenyeho’s shenanigans were exposed after organisers of a Chinese production blew the whistle on him, when they alerted the Pacofs authorities that he had allegedly asked them to overcharge the centre for a performance early this year. The Chinese had charged Pacofs R50 000 for the musical, but Lesenyeho told them to add R100 000.

Mphatseng resisted an attempt by the chairperson of the Free State Arts and Culture Council, which falls under the department, to arm-twist him into signing what looked like a petition against Lesenyeho’s suspension.

“I refused to sign the petition because I am not an employee of Pacofs; I am only a freelancer, so I did not think it was a good idea to enmesh myself in Pacofs’ administrative matters and internal politics. Make no mistake, there is no bad blood between Wits and I, as a matter of fact we are buddies who have worked on various projects together.”

“The arts and culture MEC and the head of department’s attempts to coerce me to testify in favour of him at the hearing also failed. That is what triggered the animosity towards me, which saw the department closing all doors on me and refusing to sponsor my plays,” added Mphatseng.

Following his refusal to back Lesenyeho, Mphatseng said Kgothule and Malakoane went on an offensive against him. He told The Weekly that the duo insulted him and called him horrible names. They also threatened to cut him off the department’s funding.

“My protests fell on deaf ears as neither of them (Kgothule and Malakoane) wanted to see me. Instead, all I got was degrading treatment and verbal abuse. In one instance, the HOD told me the department did not have time for artists who did not add value to the industry and who lacked potential.”

It has since emerged that, despite his suspension, Lesenyeho has hosted two shows; one titled Choice of Bleeding Hearts, which is bankrolled by the department. The show is on the line up of this year’s Macufe festival programme.

According to Mphatseng, it is possible for Lesenyeho to get the funding because “he is friends with the HOD and the MEC; they drink together.”
It has now emerged that Pacofs marketing manager, Moretlo Kabi, was a central figure who led Kgothule and Malakoane’s war against Mphatseng.

Kabi is alleged to have a romantic relationship with Malakoane. She not only insulted Mphatseng on Malakoane’s behalf, but she further went on to threaten The Weekly’s reporter when she was queried about Lesenyeho’s suspension and Mphatseng’s allegations.

When The Weekly put a call through to the Pacofs CEO to inquire about Lesenyeho’s suspension on Thursday last week, Kabi, who answered the phone, said she was already aware of the questions the newspaper had sent to the department the previous day.

Kabi demanded to know why The Weekly was probing the Lesenyeho issue and launched a tirade against Mphatseng, whom she described as an “ungrateful person”.

 

In fact, Kabi ranted to the extent that she threatened to sue our reporter if she dared write about the conversation.

‘’If you write about what I say, I’m going to sue you. Who are you to speak to my CEO? If you want a comment about ‘Wits’ verdict you should send your questions to our head of communications, Maseeta (Makgabane). Such issues are addressed by her and don’t think that we’ll get back to you; there are more serious things we have to attend to. What is it that you want from Wits, anyway? (sic)”

“I told you I don’t have his numbers, he does not work here anymore. And so you should know I’m aware that you sent an email to the department of arts and culture. Babes is a bitter artist who is also ungrateful. He is old and does not want to give other artists a chance; he must go to the nearest hell,” ranted the fuming Kabi.

Later that evening, our reporter received an anonymous phone call (with the number concealed) threatening to deal with her if she wrote this story. The caller, a woman, said in Sesotho: “O tlo nyela ha o ka ngola story seno (you will sh*t if you write the story).”Our reporter recognised the caller’s voice as similar to that of Kabi’s.

An SMS, seen by the The Weekly, sheds more light about the relationship between Kabi and Malakoane. The SMS, sent from Kabi’s number accuses Mphatseng of being a backstabber, was written in response to Mphatseng’s earlier SMS to Maloakane.

It read: “unfortunately unlike some people I know I don’t go out to destroy people life’s (sic) I don’t back step(sic) I don’t plot people and I don’t buy anybody’s face so I don’t appreciate the sms you sent to me and if you don’t stop I am going to sue for harassment.”

The unemployed Mphatseng currently depends on his wife for financial support.

“It’s not that I don’t want to work; I have three scripts that I have worked on already; all I need is a platform to perform and tell stories to the African people.”

Meanwhile, Mphatseng has praised the department of economic development, tourism and environmental affairs MEC, Mamiki Qabathe, for taking care of Free State artists better than Kgothule.
“I wish the department of arts and culture can take a leaf out of Mamiki’s book, and involve artists in its activities. Free State artists will never go far in the industry if the department of sports, arts and culture is not prepared to change. Resources and funds should be allocated fairly to deserving artists,” he said.

Mphatseng started his acting career in 1974. In 1991 he established the Maluti Community Theatre, which operated in the renowned and well-respected former Bloemfontein Celtic boss, Petrus Molemela’s back yard. The theatre groomed legendary industry giants such as Tony Kgoroge, Tina Mnumzane and Tshireletso Nkoane to mention a few.

In a bid to get to the bottom of these serious allegations, The Weekly approached the department of arts and culture’s spokesperson, Tankiso Zola, for comment. He asked the newspaper to email questions and promised to forward them to Kgothule and Malakoane.

The questions were e-mailed on Wednesday last week, and were followed up with an SMS the following day. The department had not responded to the questions at the time of going to press despite numerous attempts to remind Zola of the urgency of the story.

The Weekly also sent questions to Pacofs head of communications, Maseeta Makgabane, via email, but to no avail. The questions related to Lesenyeho’s disciplinary hearing and its outcomes.
The email was also accompanied by questions directed at Kabi. The newspaper wanted Kabi to confirm or deny allegations of an affair between herself and Malakoane and to explain how she came to know about the contents of the email the newspaper had sent to the department.

Instead, Kabi called the newspaper’s marketing manager on Tuesday this week demanding to know why we were writing about her alleged affair with the HOD and Lesenyeho’s suspension. She said Malakoane was an advocate and was going to sue the paper.

The Weekly called Lesenyeho several times on Wednesday this week to respond to the allegations against him but he hung up the phone at every attempt.