Baby Cele: If government has money put aside to help artists, why can't they just do so?

Actress Baby Cele has lambasted the government for not providing adequate assistance to artists during the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.  

The former Uzalo villainess has once again the government's lack of initiative to relieve the financial strain Covid-19 has put on artists.

Baby told TshisaLIVE that connecting with other artists helped her see the damage and harm that was being done to performance artists in SA.

“We formed a WhatsApp group for KZN artists and most of them are musicians. Before lockdown, we all know musicians make a lot of money, especially during the festive season, right? And all of a sudden, everything went quiet. I would see these people chatting on the group airing their frustrations. And obviously, their cost of living is now too high,” she said.

When asked what suggestions the star has for the government to assist artists, Baby expressed her anguish with the injustice she has been seeing around her.

“I have asked myself that question over and over again. And every time you say you have an answer, you are shooting yourself in the foot. If you keep quiet, it's like you don't care because, truth be told, this virus is killing us; it has no colour, it has not age. You can't say they should open festivals again, that's a risk on its own.”

She also had a question for the government themselves and their treatment of artists.

“If the government has the money put aside to help out artists, why can't they just do so?” said Baby.