Tony Kgoroge believes the acting industry will flourish when 'exploitation' stops

South African actors are finally getting a chance to stand up for their rights and actor Tony Kgoroge has shared his thoughts on what it would take to make the industry thrive to its full potential.

"There is something that we are lacking in terms of lifting the talent we have to the highest high. There is a science to telling stories but it rests greatly on people.

"There are a lot people that contribute towards making these stories great, but they are not taken care of. The whole food chain needs to be taken care of and more than anything they need to be protected by labour laws and policies and so on. The more you exploit people, the more you take away from greatness because people get bitter. When they get bitter then you lose talent. Artists deserve to have rights that stick up for them too."

Tony used Nigeria's Nollywood as an example, saying despite not having the budget and the infrastructure they still managed to compete successfully on the global stage for a share in the market.

"We have great storytellers and great talent in SA. What we are struggling with is how then do we sell the story and how to make sure that the people that tell the story get what is due to them. If we have all these talent how come we can't pitch these talent on the world stage?"

The actor who has recently taken on the role of Ngcolosi on Imbewu explained the major differences he's seen while working on productions overseas as compared to here at home.

"We are way far apart with the rest of the world. In that for example the international filmmakers and actors have bigger budgets and time. Time to work on their characters. What I realised with local ones there's really no time. It's a sausage factory. The other thing is when you look at the situation from outside you don't really grasp how real it is and how everything really works. Hence our plights are often ignored because people don't understand."

Tony has also written and directed episodes on Muvhango for example amongst many other projects. He said he loved being both behind and in front of the camera.

"For me, I appreciate all aspects of telling a story from the creation to the business of it. The business of selling that story and making it worthy of the world stage as well. That for me is the most interesting and challenging part of telling a story and gives me such a rush when accomplished. There's also so much strong talent behind the scenes. We have great talent."