Thabo Rametsi: 'South Africans are good enough to tell their own stories'

SA actor Thabo Rametsi has expressed his pride in being able to tell home-grown stories against all odds.

Taking to his Instagram, the Silverton Siege star opened up about how he feels its important that South Africans tell their own story.

“I’ve worked most of my career trying to show that South Africans are good enough to tell their own stories ... to play their own heroes.”

Thabo wrote a lengthy post explaining how SA artists have often been made to feel like they are “not good” enough to play leading roles in stories about their own heroes, using Hollywood actors playing the lead in films about struggle icon Nelson Mandela as an example.

“We weren’t tall enough to play our Mandela. We weren’t wise enough to play our Biko. We weren’t fierce enough to play our Winnie. We weren’t big enough stars for people to want to watch our stories.”

The Kalushi star encouraged creators and artist to continue telling authentic SA stories the way they want to and the way the stories deserve to be told.

“But look at us ... defiantly telling our own stories, with our own people as we always have and the world watches as it always has. We grew tired of waiting for a chance and instead, with limited resources, created our own. So let’s create. Create together. We have to leave something for the children that look like us, sound like us, feel like us.

“They colonised our land it is only natural that they will try colonise our story, even using our own people.” said the actor.

Read his full post below:

There has been a growing appetite for African stories told by their own.

The anticipation was evident when Netflix dropped the official trailer for its first African action thriller Silverton Siege, which premiered earlier this year on Freedom Day (April 27).

The film follows the rich history Mzansi has concerning the armed wing of the ANC, Umkhonto Wesizwe, and it follows three young freedom fighters who seek refuge in a bank.

They take the bank and its customers hostage, threatening to only release them in exchange for the release of Nelson Mandela. Thabo played the leading role alongside Stefan Erasmus and Noxolo Dlamini.

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