Popular local group Culture Spears is on the verge of parting ways. The group has spent the better part of this year denying rumours of a split. Long time member Thembeni ‘Ramozara’ Ramosetheng has told TimeOut that he is thinking of leaving the group because he has been sidelined.
“I am in the process of quitting but I haven’t told them my final decision. The idea of quitting crossed my mind because since the beginning of this year Culture Spears has not been calling me to perform with them. This is straining me financially because I have nothing to put on the table for my children. I have absolutely no idea why they are not calling me for shows,” he said.
He continued to add that maybe the reason why they sidelined him was because last year he called them for a group meeting to tell them his grievances. “During this meeting I told them that since they are not treating me like a shareholder I did not mind to be a dancer and they did not respond to this suggestion,” he said.
For his part Kabelo Mogwe of Culture Spears said, “As far as I know Thembeni is still part of Culture Spears and he has not shown or expressed signs of dissatisfaction. The only thing I know is that he is working on his solo career which we support as Culture Spears. In fact we are planning a Culture Spears tour and he will use that chance to launch his solo project. The reason why people think we are splitting is because they did not see him at our Mokaragana performance but people get held up, it happens.”
This year Ramozara took the first steps into a solo career when he released his album Lepara la Koko which perfectly fits with the character of Ramozara. The eight-track album was recorded in Mpumalanga at the Kwena Ya Nnete Studios by Victor Kgaswane. “The album is not doing really well like my comedy but I do get something,” he said.