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JOHANNESBURG. – Award-winning actress Connie Chiume relayed the alleged cruelty people in the entertainment industry faced as she spoke about how saddened she was about the plight which befell veteran actor Vusi Thanda. 

Chiume spoke about this in an interview with Macgyver Mukwevho and Sol Phenduka on Mukwevho’s YouTube podcast, PodcastWithMacG. Mukwevho asked her what she thought about a video of Thanda pleading for financial assistance.   

“That made me very sad. Our industry is so cruel; it’s so cruel.” 

She added: “We are freelancers, and you are a freelancer for the rest of your life, and, unfortunately, even our government – where we pay 25 percent  tax – still doesn’t classify us as workers, which means you can’t claim UIF [unemployment insurance fund]. We are being used.

The Gomora actor added that she often disputed people’s misconception about creatives being unable to budget. 

“If I am working today, even for the whole year for that matter, and then the following year I’m not working for six months, how far would I be able to stretch that money? How far will I be able to stretch it?”  

Chiume further said that when she found herself without employment, she could survive because of the other things she did. 

“Vusi’s story really hurt me,” she said in the interview. “I actually took that video, and I sent it somewhere hoping that the powers that be – because it’s so embarrassing and so hurting – will hear him and probably come up with something they can do.” – News24.com