‘This industry is dirty,’ says former ‘Yizo Yizo’ actor on ‘sacrifices’ in showbiz

Dumisani Khumalo, popularly known for his role as Sticks on Yizo Yizo, believes sacrifices have to be made before one lands a role on TV.

A video clip of the actor saying he witnessed such incidents in the entertainment industry is making the rounds on social media.

“Mina ngabona indoda idla enye indoda ku le industry,” he said.

TshisaLIVE contacted Dumisani about his sentiments.

“I'm not backing down on anything. This industry is dirty, and one day talent will vanish. For a talented actor to land a deal on TV, they need to sleep with someone from behind the scenes,” he said angrily.

“The industry is no longer the same. We hear certain actors on TV have landed roles after sleeping with certain producers, hence you see the same faces everywhere. It is sad that we have talented people but they are nowhere close to the screen. They go to auditions but at the end they need to sacrifice something or offer their bodies to secure certain commercial advertisements and TV roles.

“I have a group of kids and I nurture their talent with efforts for them to land on TV, but auditions are so brutal. Kids end up abandoning their dreams, and start to smoke drugs due to the ills in the entertainment industry and sacrificing.

 “You see a person who got a first shot on TV as a presenter. A few months later that person is acting, a few weeks later they're a musician. Later that same person is a DJ. The whole industry is talentless except for this person who does everything on TV. Sometimes watching TV hurts me.” 

Dumisani is training youth in acting in Braamfischerville and Tshepisong, Soweto.