Veteran actor, producer, and father Maake kaNcube (61) recently celebrated 40 years in the film and television industry.
To mark the milestone, his foundation has partnered up with his adopted son Bongani Xaba and Doctor Khumalo in a one-day event titled SOW: Mentor A Boy Child in Vosloorus in the South of Boksburg.
“This event is to engage fathers and their sons on topics related to men. It is to address issues of masculinity, power, money, abuse, alcohol, fatherhood and how to be a respectable, nurturing, and a responsible man without feeling less of a man,” Sello says.
“We are living in trying times with the abuse of women and children and we need to help in shaping the thinking of young men and boys from an early age. Our society is filled with absent fathers, abusers, and broken men who do not cry. The development of young minds at an early age will mean a better society, a safer environment, and to dissect the root causes of abuse.”
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When he was a young man with big dreams, Sello looked up to Kenny Majozi, who played a lead actor in Gibson Kente's play Sikhalo.
“As a young man; I generally looked up to people who excelled in their respective fields. I have respect for people who respect their craft.”
He knew he wanted to contribute to be a good man in society.
“I wanted to make money, be a good husband and a great father.”
Sello wants to do his part to make sure there are positive role models for his grandchildren.
He founded the Sello Maake kaNcube Foundation to help in the appreciation of arts and culture and social cohesion and excellence through the performing arts. He also started a campaign called AfriMan Rising using a play he wrote in 1998 called Komeng, to raise GBV awareness through dialogue.
“My role as an actor and creator is to empower, uplift, educate and change lives,” Sello says.
“Gender-based violence is not something we hear about from a distance, it happens to our neighbours, colleagues, and close friends, and it is also our responsibility as storytellers to break the pattern.”
He travels nationally doing imbizo events for men with various organisations trying to find solutions through dialogues to combat the roots of gender-based violence.
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Keen to participate in changing history, Doctor Khumalo says it is important for people who have some form of influence to share their wisdom with young men.
"Mentoring a young boy may not only give them hope but it may save their lives.
“We need to prepare them for the alginate roles they are going to be playing in the future; whether being parent, teachers, spouses or just good citizens. I want to help empower them through life skills and to know how to deal with conflict between genders. We need to encourage intergenerational conversations.”
