12 Feb 2024

It is paramount to develop a growth mindset in which one believes in their abilities to improve and understand that effort and perseverance are key to achieving success.

Jethro Ndebele alias Umaga of Bohema fame said in an interview on the sidelines of Department of Broadcasting Services’ second term road show in Mahalapye on Thursday that a ‘fixed mindset’ would assume that one’s character, intelligence, and creative ability were static.

Therefore, he noted that success was the affirmation of that inherent intelligence fused together with efforts with the hunger for success and avoiding failure at all costs.

He said people with a fixed mindset believe that talent alone creates success, without effort, adding that when faced with challenges, they give up.

Umaga, who had an opportunity to ice the cake for the show with his master of ceremonies electrifying chants that left the audiences in stitches, said the creative industry was a powerful tool to open all the doors to prosperity.

Underscoring the need for talent to grow, he said lifecycle management was critical for the creative industry to grow, and that creatives should learn all the stages of development.

The multi-skilled artiste, who fuses diverse talents to come up with Bohema Dance that took the country by storm, noted that perseverance and passion remained the driving force for him to remain relevant in the industry.

The ever-green artiste is of the view that creating a personal brand and a successful music career did not happen overnight.

“It requires honing your abilities by learning from others. 

Create time away from your daily schedules and meet your colleagues, established professionals, and peers face-to-face. 

Also, attend shows and festivals to grab some ideas and contribute to them,” he said.

Illustrating his passion for arts, he shared that he started while he was doing standard five at Natale Primary School, in a village of the same name about 30 kilometres west of Francistown.

He first warmed the hearts of Batswana through his enthusiastic humour and theatrical prowess at a tender age of primary school days.

Thereafter, he went to Bobonong Junior Secondary School, where he continued with performing arts and would get meagre income for his live performances because back then people were not considering the creative industry as business while some were ill-informed, noting that he was popular in Bobonong even during that era and had overwhelming followers.

Later on he went to Matshekge Hill Senior Secondary School, still at Bobonong in central region, where he also performed above par with regard to his live performances, thus triggering the need to proceed to tertiary level to study for Bachelor of Arts (Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance) at AWIL College formerly AFDA Botswana, an acronym that used to stand for Africa Film Drama Art.

Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture was so impressed it footed the bill for his tertiary education.

Umaga expressed gratitude that he had worked with renowned gurus in the industry in the likes of Shumba Ratshega, Radijo and Makgabaneng Radio Serial Drama, noting that Makgabaneng radio-based soap opera recognised him while he was still doing form four during their roadshow.

He said it was by then when he was spotted by Makgabaneng and offered an opportunity to perform in the prestigious soap opera.

After completing Form Five he joined Tswana drama dubbed Mareledi in 2013.

He is on stage cracking the ribs of soap opera fanatics, now with Mareledi on episode 7.

He shared that blending the diversity of his talents; acting and stand-up comedy, among others to make a percussion of sweet melodious sounds of Bohema Dance whose albums sell like hot cakes was one of the strategies he used to remain relevant to his audiences.

Actor, musician, stand-up comedian, voice over artiste, promoter and master of ceremonies are words which best describe him

He said as he was always focusing on quality enhancement, he had introduced Ngwati-Ngwati album as one of his ground-breaking inventions of the music genre.

Nonetheless, the DBS road show was characterised by song and dance that saw Khoisan music group stealing the show with lyrics such as Sethubege, Mpuledise, Senanapo and an afro fusion, piano fused song titled Moleko that proved to be a thriller. Ends