No Sacred Cows When Talking Taboos With Lethabo Ramokgopa

Not too many individuals have the guts to speak frankly when having to tackle thorny issues. It takes a brave warrior to do so.

Lethabo Ramokgopa is in a somewhat different league altogether, going digging where angels fear to tread when entering into on-air conversations for upcoming social media podcast feature Straight Talk in the making.

An opportunity to trade places with her, and in turn getting to fire a volley of questions at the diva acquainted with dominating diverse platforms from the arts scene to electronic media in Limpopo the past decade, afforded a glimpse of the new venture she embarked on towards the end of May this year.

With its marvellous medieval theme, luxurious accommodation establishment King’s Castle in the heart of Polokwane’s upper town was a splendid venue for a photo shoot portraying Lethabo in the role of an African queen. All dressed up while impeded by lockdown restrictions, yet giving rise to her passion for boldly expressing herself and granting others equal opportunity for engagement.

During the lengthy interview afterwards she summarised the show as “raw and deep” while discussing things not usually allowed over the airwaves. And by having made it her business to delve into the souls of others to talk taboos and ban any uncomfortable elephant from the setting, she regards it a healing platform for letting it all out “because the country is in pain”.

She had to first learn to face her own demons when initially starting out, she explained and ironically the elephants+baobabs interview compelled her to address a topic that until then remained off-limits. As a result she opened up about a career path fraught with unexpected turns and surprise twists that resulted in fizzled dreams. As she explained, career-wise she has been hurting quite a lot. It took some stepping back in time to when she seemingly missed the renewal of a job contract with a marketing

company ten years ago for failing to have completed her degree, subsequently having to walk away from an enviable marketing position with a non-profit organisation in the arts sphere when it closed its doors and towards the end of 2017 was supposedly retrenched when her contract as a current affairs anchor at a local radio station wasn't renewed. The last blow broke her heart and spirit as she had the rug yanked from beneath her, not having had that platform to live out her fiery passion, gift and talent

any longer.

But an earlier call from producer Lesiba Maboea, whom she has known since the mid-Eighties, changed all that and Straight Talk became a fixture in her life. Along with cameraman Hlogi Rakgoale they are feverishly generating content for going live in January 2021.

Straight Talk, she reckoned, gave her the power to decide how she wanted to engage with the person next to her and experience the energy from those she entered into conversation with. She considers it a healing process and platform for ironing out issues. Asked about the most memorable session thus far, she singled out the recent talk she had about raising fatherless children. It resulted in her talking about being raised without her father having been part of her life, which she mentioned was not easy territory to delve into.

She conceded that society isn’t ready for straight talking and a blunt conversation is not an easy one to have, but it simultaneously has internal and external therapeutic effects. “You walk out a little bit lighter.”

And so, to quote a queen of the local digital domain herself, Lethabo Ramokgopa is fixing the country one conversation at a time.

*Locate King’s Castle at 40 Grobler Street, Polokwane. Be prepared to be swept away by the appealing ambience, the sublime interiors and level of hospitality displayed by management.

** Accessories from the elephants+baobabs range