Sello Maake kaNcube Unapologetic Too About Zimbabwe Visit
Sello Maake kaNcube, a stage and television actor from South Africa, has defended the latest trip to Zimbabwe in response to accusations that he sacrificed his inner self by welcoming an invitation from Harare officials.
Maake kaNcube is best known for his starring roles as Lucas “Daniel” Nyathi on the ETV soap opera Scandal! and as Archie Moroka on the television soap opera Generations.
He and Pearl Thusi could be seen smiling with Emmerson Mnangagwa, the president of Zimbabwe, in a picture that went viral over the weekend. They were both wearing scarves with Zimbabwean flags on them.
Sowetan reported that many social media users viewed the visit by SA entertainment personalities, who included actress Sonia Mbele, as an endorsement for Mnangagwa and the ruling ZANU PF party.
Speaking to the Sowetan after the criticism, Maake kaNcube said he was invited by Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, for a tour of Zimbabwe. He said:
The invite also fell in line with a personal campaign of taking my expertise in the arts to Africa, as I find myself hamstrung to make a contribution to my own country. I accepted the invitation for personal, social and business purposes. My wife is a Mbewe who is actually half Zambian and Zimbabwean.
She had never been to either country, so her being to Victoria Falls for the first time was a magical experience for me.
Even when a person would say what a good actor I am, I know the limitations of my craft and what I still have to perfect.
Maake kaNcube said he first visited Zimbabwe for a shoot in 1988 and in 1990 and considered migrating there. He said:
“When I visited in 1988 it was for the first time I had set my foot in a country that had gained its independence from colonialism. It filled me with so much elation.
Going there this time after the land reform, which found the country subjected to sanctions that crippled its economy and saw its citizens crossing the border to South Africa to eke a living, Zimbabwe is a nation on the trajectory of rebuilding and reconstructing itself brick by brick.
During his recent visit to Zimbabwe, Maake kaNcube also visited Victoria Falls and farms owned by black people and created a video that he posted.
