Television and theatre veteran Sello Maake Ka-Ncube says he is stunned that, less than six months after Nelson Mandela's death, the staging of Madiba: The African Opera has been cancelled because of lack of funding.
Ka-Ncube plays Chief Albert Luthuli in the production.
"We're all sad. It's stunning that we should find ourselves in this position," he said yesterday.
The show was canned this week, three performances into its run at Pretoria's State Theatre, because of money problems.
It was to have run until Sunday before being staged in Qunu, Mandela's home village, on July 18. Shows in Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein were to follow, with a European tour next year.
The African Cultural Organisation of SA said it had applied to the National Lotteries Board for R12-million for the national tour, which was said to have been approved late last month. But two weeks later the lotteries board said funding would be drastically cut to only R2.86-million, Acosa said.
Musical director Kutlwano Masote said it had been decided to "shorten the run until we have received further funding".
The lotteries board said it was unable to fund the entire tour. It said Acosa was aware of the grant conditions and could not blame the board for the cancellation.
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