Youth encouraged by film and acting workshop

Some well-known artists were invited to the workshop.

April 30, 2021

Emmanuel N Mthimunye 4 minutes read

The young generation, Gracious R&G Organization is taking action in empowering eMalahleni youth through a film and acting workshop at eMalahleni Civic Theatre.

On Friday, April 23 the Gracious R&G Organization hosted the workshop to bring change to the youth to improve lifestyles and encourage them to do better as well as to take action against drugs and other substance abuse.

During the workshop, the founder of Gracious R&G organization, Thembi Malaza said when she visits downtown, her heart breaks into pieces because of what she sees every time.

“I wanted to make a change in my community because it pains me to see the youth being scattered like this and also being involved in drugs like nyaope, therefore I have created this organization to improve the living standard of eMalahleni youth and I hope that this workshop is going to help the youth to do better and develop better chances of limiting poverty,” she said.

Some well-known artists such as Sipho Mbele from Scandal, Gomora and Diep City, the Ndebele activist Thando Mahlangu as well as Linda Gumede from Highveld Park who is well known for directing Zola 7’s show on SABC1, Tales from the Edge on SABC3 and Winds of Change SABC1 were invited to the workshop.

Thembi said she invited these people to encourage the youth that it is possible to make it in life, for example, Linda Gumede is from eMalahleni, and he has made it in life even though it was not easy.

Linda told WITBANK NEWS that he was very pleased to be invited as a guest speaker to this workshop, and he hopes that it will bring great developments like job opportunities for the youth.

“I’m grateful for what Thembi is doing for the youth of eMalahleni. I hope that this workshop is going to knock sense into the youth because the youth has lost direction in life and as a citizen of eMalahleni I fully support this initiative and I hope to see more young stars that I have met here on television from now on because I can tell that eMalahleni has talent and that cannot be compromised again. I would like to tell young people to focus on their studies and learn to be self-reliant because they are our future leaders,” he said.

The youth was given a platform to showcase their talent and during their performance a person could tell that these young stars have talent, it’s just that they lack guidance and motivation and the guests later saw that it was very important for them to come and engage with these young stars.

Thando said it melts his heart to see the youth being involved in such workshops, and he hopes that this won’t end here, but it shall escalate further so that the youth could be recognized because recognition is the only thing that can better the lives of the youth.

“I’m very happy to see the youth being engaged in such programs and I wish that God could bless Thembi because the world truly needs people like her, people who are willing to bring change in their community, people who are willing to give back to their community. Believe me, if such workshops could happen more often South Africa could be the better place for everyone because the only thing that lacks here is guidance and that’s what Thembi brought for her community,” said Thando.

The youth was very keen on talking to WITBANK NEWS.

Khomotso Mathebela said it’s been a long time for him to wait for such an opportunity so that he can showcase his talent.

He said he was involved in many projects, he had attended many workshops, but he can tell that this one is the best he has to learn a lot from.

He hopes that it will indeed bring some change in the city because it kills him to see his peers being controlled by drugs and being involved in crimes, therefore he hopes that this workshop is going to educate many people.

“I can’t thank Thembi enough for what she has done for us as the youth, it shows that there are still people who want to see us doing better in life and I can tell the information I got from this workshop is going to help me a lot, more especially in improving my acting skills. To me this came as a surprise because I wasn’t expecting it, I always told myself that I will one day go to Johannesburg to learn acting, but Mr Mbele has made me see that I don’t need Johannesburg to better my acting skills, I just need respect, self-dedication and goals, that’s all,” said Khomotso.

Thembi says as Gracious they work through a zero budget, and it is difficult for them to fulfil everything that they want.

At some time she thought of giving up, but she can’t because of the love that she has for her community and she would like to thank her team for always making sure that the organization is well-kept even though there is no income.

She further said that she would appreciate it if the government or any person could sponsor them so that they could develop better chances for the youth because that could help to fight the drugs that have taken over eMalahleni.

She says people can call her on 072 491 5317 if they want to help or inquire about the Gracious R&G Organization.