The Hive: Eugene Mthethwa on SAMRO dispute, his move to the EFF and music

Kaya 959 Reporter

South African Kwaito musician Eugene Mthethwa recently joined Bonolo B-Sting on The Hive for an intriguing discussion on the state of South African music.

In a light-hearted conversation, he spoke about the many issues plaguing the local music scene, from the lack of support of the government to the treatment of veteran musicians receive as well as the unfair practices that have unfolded in the last two decades.

He also spoke about his love for music and offered suggestions on what needs to be done for the South African music industry to work.

In the interview, he also spoke about his reaction to government officials who flooded fellow Trompies member Mjokes’ funeral with branding and why it didn’t sit well with him that they were grandstanding after neglecting him while he was still alive.

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Listen to the conversation here:

On his move to the EFF

In February 2022, Mthethwa made a public announcement that he had switched his political allegiances from the ANC to the EFF.

Mthethwa shared how over the last 20 years of being a member of the liberation movement he has never seen a transformation in the South African music space.

He said he had constantly been a part of internal discussions that showed him that there wasn’t any political will to intervene in the sector.

“It’s been long coming, I’ve been a member of the ANC for years, I started from the UDF in the 80s, and when the ANC was unbanned, I decided to be a member of the party. In the whole 20 years of being a member, I felt like our sector was never catered for.”

“I’ve attended a number of manifesto conferences where they would draft it, and would constantly be faced with a situation of realising that they only see our sector as a vehicle for social cohesion.”

‘This is one sector that requires transformation’ says Mthethwa.

He also spoke of the other problems in the industry such as health, education, and intellectual property protection for artists. He says there have been many wrongs that were done to artists by the current administration.

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On SAMRO dispute with royalties

Mthethwa has been known to be an activist for artists throughout his career.

Last year, he made headlines when he and fellow industry colleagues chained themselves to a pole inside South African Music Rights Association (SAMRO) offices in Braamfontein demanding his royalties.

His fight has been one many artist have been fighting for years in South Africa, he was in the front lines in the fight and alleged that the music rights organisation operates in a system that “robs” artists and composers of their duly earned royalties and rights to benefit the big capitalist monopolies.

“The issue at SAMRO and other collecting societies is a very complicated situation that most people who are members of these organisations don’t understand. When you look at the membership that SAMRO has, you realise that it is people who are not educated.”

‘This fine line that hides things from artists, you find that people can not argue certain issues. You have an MOI (Memorandum of Incorporation) that was signed in 1967, to establish SAMRO that still operates. They can’t think that maybe that might be irrelevant now.” [sic]

Written by: Zuko

B-hive Bonolo Eugene Mthethwa SAMRRO