by Nhlawulo Vision Chauke
Actor Sello Ramolahloane better-known as “Oom” is testament to the adage that the purpose of learning is growth and education has no age. In 2015, at the age of 38, Oom enrolled for his first Higher Education qualification, a Diploma in Drama, at TUT despite his more than two decades of experience as an actor and a theatre performer.
Veteran Actor, Sello Ramolahloane.
Before he started studying at the Faculty of Arts and Design, he already had all the skills and experience an actor needs. He is among the privileged few actors who could hone their skills with the father of township theatre, Gibson “Bra Gib” Kente. This enabled him to perform in countries such as Australia, Netherlands, France, Poland, Germany, Holland, Austria, Portugal and the UK.
Some of the notable theatre plays in which Oom has performed include Township Stories (Relativity), Telling Stories, Interracial, Foreplay, Cards and Memoires of a Criminal.
The veteran actor’s decision to pursue formal education followed a young man’s comment about him being an example of having money without a qualification. He said it bothered him to be an example of excellence without a qualification, leaving behind a bad legacy.
“I needed to change the narrative. Most of us are doing well in the industry but we are bad examples. We must professionalise this and make it a career to change the narrative.”
He added that he also needed to set a great example to his kids after having abandoned his first field of study in the early 2000s with one subject left to complete his diploma.
“I asked myself, how am I going to encourage my kids to study when I haven’t studied myself? When I registered I used to take them with me to attend classes when their mother was at work and couldn’t look after them.”
He added that going to school doesn’t guarantee anyone a job but opens the spectrum for one to be employed.
In 2018, Oom completed his B-Tech in Drama and he stated that the things he was taught were something he already knew including the shows they had to perform but the lecturers challenged him to perform other shows.
“The lecturers challenged me and gave me new shows and I am happy they did that because it was going to be easy for me to pass had they allowed me to do what I already knew.”
Last month, Netflix released a short series How to Ruin Love (The Proposal) where Oom plays the role of Malume Godfrey.
Please click here to listen to Oom's Alumni Talk interview.