Mmabatho Montsho’s Angry Letter To Ramaphosa After SONA Snub – Full Text

Mzansi actress Mmabatho Montsho has penned an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa over what she terms as neglect by the government.

Mmabatho, speaking on behalf of other colleagues in the film industry, castigates the president for not including them in his State of the Nation Address. She says this meant the government has no plans for them.

This is despite the malpractices happening in the industry, particularly exploitation of black actors when it comes to remuneration. The 36 year old calls this ‘financial apartheid’.

Dear Mr President,

Upon seeing your tweet congratulating our film, “The Award Ceremony” for its international win for Best Short Film at The Worldwide Women’s Film Festival, I spoke with some of my colleagues so that the response is collective. https://t.co/7iCeOB0ANs

— Mmabatho Montsho (@MmabathoMontsho) February 18, 2020

Dear Mr President,

Upon seeing your tweet congratulating our film, “The Award Ceremony” for its international win for Best Short Film at The Worldwide Women’s Film Festival, I spoke with some of my colleagues so that the response is collective.

We spoke about how you neglected to include us in your SONA speech so that we can hold you accountable when you do not fulfill your plans for our industry. Since the arts were not mentioned, it is fair to assume there are no plans.

Black filmmakers, black women filmmakers in particular, should not have to negotiate their souls in order to have access to tell our stories and still make ends meet.
You have not prioritized the SABC which has been in limbo for years. Black practitioners have sat in their homes, in the dark, with no food on the table, while the country watches content they created without getting paid.

MNET continues to exploit creatives off our intellectual property- our ideas- precisely what makes us storytellers and creatives. We are also aware of the disparity in production budgets between channels with black content (eg. Mzansi) and white content (eg. Kyknet).

This financial apartheid must be unveiled and dealt with.

We have yet to hear sound resolutions or see decisive action from the minister of Arts and Culture in regards to regulating the industry and the minister of Communications in regards to residuals from MNET. They pretend to listen to us only on the lead up to elections.

Women in the industry still have no recourse regarding sexual harassment and exclusion. There is nowhere to report sexual harassment, intimidation and exclusion based on gender.
In short, we reach these milestones you celebrate against incredible odds. Please celebrate us by attending to our grievances.