Entertainers and sport stars might be bearing the brunt of the Covid-19 lockdown, but a record number of celebrities are united to lend their voices to inspire hope during these unprecedented times.Eighty local musicians, DJs, actors, sport personalities and influencers collaborated to record a rendition of US singer and songwriter Bill Withers’s 1972 hit Lean on Me.
The tune, which was released online free of charge this week, was made in partnership with pharmaceuticals company Cipla SA.
“We wanted to shed light on mental issues and that’s why we partnered with Cipla, because they are also ambassadors for mental health,” singer and actor Emo Adams, the brainchild behind the project, said.“This will live on for longer than when the radio stops playing it and can become a theme song for Cipla in that regard.”
Adams said he wanted to include a range of personalities on the track, and not only musicians, as he felt that was the best way to reach a wider audience.

The local version includes the song’s original chorus and some lyrics but also introduces Setswana and Afrikaans lines. It has been punted as the country’s new soundtrack during the global health crisis.

TV host Hulisani Ravele has revealed that she has stopped doing voice-acting jobs, saying she was low-balled in previous voice-acting gigs.“Stating facts is not discouraging aspiring V/O artists. It’s giving them facts and showing them the reality,” said Hulisani.

Hulisani has called out the entertainment industry before.

Fans shared their own experiences, with one fan accusing Hulisani of discouraging young and aspiring voice-over artists.

In a 2017 interview with TshisaLIVE, she opened up about the limitations and failures she experienced as a former child star trying to breakout as a young adult.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, the seasoned radio presenter explained how voice actors who don’t work on contract are short-changed by the industry.

Hit drama series The Queen has highlighted the ill-treatment widows often get from their husbands’ families, showing Vuyiswa’s pain as she mourned the death of her hubby Jerry Maake.

Vuyiswa, played by the talented Zandile Msutwana, cried her heart out on Thursday’s episode of the popular Mzansi Magic telenovela as she contemplated life without Jerry (played by Shona Ferguson).

Jerry’s family showed up and made their presence felt as they oppressed Vuyiswa with traditions that served to invalidate every wish she had on how her husband ought to be buried.

They silenced her every opinion and basically treated her like a nobody, as she cried for her dead husband. Fans were distraught to see it all unfold and pointed out that it reflected the real life situations for many black women.

Superstar singer Madonna had one of her posted removed from Instagram for spreading false information about a supposed cure for COVID-19 after she shared clips from a video also re-tweeted by Donald Trump.
In her post to 15.4 million followers, Madonna claimed that a proven vaccine had been available for months but it was being kept secret “to let the rich get richer and the poor and sick get sicker.”She attached a video of US physician Stella Immanuel who praised hydroxychloroquine as a miracle coronavirus cure.Various clips of Immanuel’s speech have spread rapidly on the internet in recent days, but hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, has not been proved effective against COVID-19.

“We’ve removed this video for making false claims about cures and prevention methods for COVID-19,” a company spokeswoman for Facebook, which owns Instagram, told AFP on Wednesday.

“People who reacted to, commented on, or shared this video, will see messages directing them to authoritative information about the virus.”“Nobody needs to get sick. This virus has a cure — it is called hydroxychloroquine,” Immanuel exclaimed in the video, standing on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington with like-minded physicians.

Madonna’s post was deleted, but screengrabs showed it had earlier been blurred by Instagram and tagged “False Information — reviewed by independent fact-checkers” with a link to a page debunking the video.

President Trump this week tweeted several clips of the video to his 84 million followers, before the tweets were removed.

“Nobody needs to get sick. This virus has a cure — it is called hydroxychloroquine,” Immanuel exclaimed in the video, standing on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington with like-minded physicians.

Madonna said in May she had recovered from the coronavirus which forced her to pull out of concerts in Paris earlier in the year.

AFP and other media companies, including Reuters and the Associated Press, work with Facebook’s fact-checking program, under which content rated false is downgraded in news feeds so that fewer people see it.

If someone tries to share such a post, he or she is presented with an article explaining why the information is not accurate.

South African musician, Lady Zamar, took to Instagram on Thursday, 30 July 2020 to speak out about a topic that is close to her heart – Gender Base Violence.The singer shared a long thread where she highlighted the social injustices that are imposed on women in South Africa, and claimed that it is her duty as a human being to use her platform to advocate for such issues.

Lady Zamar, who previously accused her ex-boyfriend, Sjava, of rape, spoke sincerely about what she felt was going on in the country, stating, “Women are precious and right now something must be done. To every man out there, do your best to protect the women in your life.”

Finally, she spoke out about the criticism she has received on social media, from followers and peers alike, stating that she uses the negative to come out stronger.