Generations star reveals her Lesotho roots

MAMELLO SEBATANE

Maseru – After she was raised and educated in Lesotho up to university, she became one of South Africa’s renowned fashion agents and consultants who has worked in the fashion and entertainment industry for over 20 years.

She has worked with big names like David Tlale and Gert-Johan Cotzee, and she dresses Khumbul`e khaya`s Andlile Gaelesiwe. Her recent appearance on one of South Africa`s most watched television programmes, Generations has introduced us to the other talent of Linky Morobi, passionate acting.

Linky Morobi worked as a supporting actress for Generations, where she played Jack Mabaso’s (Vusi Kunene’s) mother who suffered from dementia. The two had recently been reunited since she had left him when he was an infant. Morobi, 55, is originally from the Vaal in the Free State, South Africa. She is a Business Studies graduate from the National University of Lesotho (NUL) and now works in the fashion industry with a myriad of designers and celebrities in South Africa.

She spoke briefly on her childhood to The Eye.

“I was born in South Africa but I attended high school at Moshoeshoe II High School in Matsieng, Lesotho. Because of the turmoils of apartheid my mother moved me to study there where we also had family at Ha Mants`ebo and I had also secured a scholarship from the UNDP that was given to South Africans who were studying in Lesotho at that time.

“I later went on to pursue my studies at the National University of Lesotho (NUL). I was a very shy child initially, but I loved to sing. I think I knew intuitively from the very beginning that I was destined for greater things,” she said, adding that when she was at home her mother would make her perform at some family events and for some visitors.

She left Lesotho for South Africa again after completing her studies at NUL and her passion and interest in television intensified as she got older.

“I used to go and enjoy being in television studios as part of the audience. That is when I fell deeper in love with television and the entertainment industry as a whole. I slowly started being comfortable with the idea of being in the spotlight from that young age,” she said. Later in 2004, Morobi was discovered by veteran actress Lillian Dube at a hair salon.

“Being on the screen was never particularly on my mind until 2004 although I had always wanted to be in the industry. I was complimented for my energy and my overall persona by Lillian Dude who I had met at a salon. She liked me and encouraged me to consider acting,” she stated.

At that time Morobi was already in the fashion industry so she took the advice very lightly. “I was already where I wanted to be, in the fashion industry and I thought that I would not have enough time to juggle both, so I blatantly refused the offer to start acting but we exchanged numbers,” she explained.

“The following year in 2005 I got a call from Dr Lillian Dube to audition for a Mosotho woman to act in Mponeng. Again she was persistent, so I gave in and auditioned and I got the part. Soon she asked me to audition for Soul City and once again, I got the part,” she said explaining how she first penetrated into acting. Speaking on her recent appearance on South Africa’s local drama, Generations, she said she had recently just joined a new agency when she landed herself the new role.

“Just two days under the new agency, they sent me a role to audition for Generations. To my surprise I got the part. When I got the news that I had secured the part I was with Lillian Dube, coincidently, and this time around I was ready for this,” she said adding that the experience was fulfilling and very close to her heart because she related a lot to playing the role of a dementia victim, as it is something that runs in her family.

However, she said she encountered a few problems on the set. “As a Mosotho, I found it difficult to speak fluent IsiZulu so I had to work hard on that and a colleague of mine, who is a language translator for Khumbul`e khaya, Msizi Moshoetsi helped me a lot with speaking the language properly, in order to execute this role, the way that I did,” she said.

She indicated further that before getting the role, it was a struggle to audition through online means because she was used to the old-fashioned way of auditioning. COVID 19 changed a lot of things as it also affected her fashion business severely, she added. Counting her successes she said landing a role with Generations boosted her confidence immensely.

“The compliments I got for my self-taped audition by the Generations acting coach, working Latoya Makhene and Vusi Kunene is something I would never forget, I enjoyed working with them. I also worked alongside other best actors and directors,” she said. She applauded herself and her hard work for playing a big role in the fashion industry and being able to assist young designers with marketing their brands, “I am also happy that I get to assist fashion students,” she said.

“This is for young people; I advise them to be patient. Sometimes it may seem difficult to maintain but it is very necessary. Patience is a good skill. They must also be informed, read, research and be aware of a lot of things. “This also applies to young people who want to pursue acting, read briefs properly and be sure that they can play the character that is being auditioned for,” she said advising youth people.