Veteran actor Glen Gabela has recently accused production house Stained Glass, which produces Uzalo, of ruining his life. Gabela opened up about his struggles on The Voice With Palesa podcast.
He played the role of Pastor Mdletshe when Uzalo started, where he was headhunted and was told it was one of the permanent roles. According to Gabela, at the end of Season 4, he was called into the office and told his contract would be terminated.
Gabela shared that he is surviving on the government social grant. The last time he saw his 22-year-old daughter was in 2018 after he lost his contract on Uzalo.
Fired in breach of permanent contract
“When they (Uzalo) breached that contract, my life went down. My bank froze all of my accounts. My car was repossessed and my apartment in Emdloti was locked. I used to send money for the upkeep of my daughter. But her mother, whom I was divorced from when I lost the contract, said she would raise her by herself. I do not know what poison she fed her, but to this day my daughter does not want to see me,” said Gabela.
Gabela said the sad part about his broken relationship with his daughter is that the mother passed away without resolving things between them.
The thespian has also appeared on Shaka Zulu, where he played the role of Shaka in 1988 after Henry Cele. He revealed that when he was approached for the role, he was told he would be paid R40, 000, but somehow that was never honoured.
Also short-changed in previous big acting role
“I had never had R40, 000 in my account back then. So I agreed, but it was a verbal agreement. There were hard lessons that I learnt in the process. And on the last day of shooting, … they called me in and gave me a R7, 000 cheque.
“I do not know what happened, but I was only paid that amount for such a big production. They also told me to get on the bus with the crew going back to Johannesburg. Meanwhile, they flew me down [from Johannesburg]. I was told if I do not get onto that bus I was on my own.”
Gabela shared that he is currently running film and acting workshops. But he has no funding and uses whatever little resources that he gets.
“I have approached people and put forth proposals. It takes effort to explain to a businessperson why they need to invest.”
