Lebo M: South Africans can play many more roles than they are often given credit for

As the world anticipates the premiere of a live-action remake of The Lion King, Lebo M has praised the versatility of South African talent, hailing it as some of the best in the world.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Lebo said that one of the proudest moments of his life was when the world fell in love with the highly-successful theatre production of The Lion King, because of the calibre of SA talent in the project.

"It was incredible that Disney saw the value of The Lion King because it is an African story. We had [on the theatre production] South African actors, singers, and dancers and suddenly people saw the talent that we have. It made me so proud."

Lebo has committed himself to finding South African talent and putting it on the global stage. He said that South Africans were often not given roles they are more than capable of performing.

"I think sometimes South Africans are given certain roles because producers think they can only work in those particular roles. But I believe there is a lot of talent in our country. Enough that we can play any role. South Africans are capable of playing in a rich variety of roles. More than they are often given credit for."

The star said he will be using his The Lion King world tour to showcase some of that talent and believes that audiences will be blown away by what they see.

"It is an incredible production that we are excited to be bringing to South Africa in the next two years. I think it shows just how good South Africans can be," he said.