‘You’ll soon know me’
Always having a clear idea of what he wanted to become, Leballo Mokone Matjila set out to achieve his goal of becoming a singer.
POLOKWANE – Born and bred in Seshego Zone 1, this 28-year-old youth activist moved to Bloemhof in North West to live with his aunt when his mother passed away.
He moved back to Seshego in 2005 and completed matric at Westenburg Secondary School in the same year.
“Because I wanted to pursue a career as a singer, I didn’t consider attending university. Not that I didn’t want to further my education, I just chose to be an artist instead.”
This artist has built his brand over the years and said he mostly gets booked to provide entertainment at departmental functions and events. He recently performed at the Thalita Koum second birthday celebration which was hosted at Mercurius Motors Polokwane by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
Read more: Local singer gives advice to aspiring singers
Leballo began singing at the age of nine and said it all started at church in the small town of Bloemhof. “I never really knew when was the right time to be singing professionally, but I always knew I had to work hard to become better and stronger at what I do,” he added.
The biggest inspiration that led Leballo to start singing is his mentor, Dinovian Jaars, a singer and pianist from Welkom in the Free State. “He is the one person who always seemed to have more faith in me than I had in myself. He taught me so much in terms of music and I will forever be thankful to him for being part of my life, and may God continue to bless him.”
Aside from singing, Leballo is working on a campaign called the Pink Campaign which will focus on motivating young men and boys to respect women and to say no to abuse and gender-based violence. “I realised in order for men to become better individuals, they need to have strong, positive mentors while growing up.”
In his life and career, Leballo has had to overcome many difficult challenges but he said he did so by reminding himself of what his purpose in life was and deciding no matter how challenging the obstacle, it will never break him down.
Leballo is a born again Christian and loves to read in his spare time, especially the Bible, and he attends church at the Church On The Hill Polokwane.
“I am Mokone and you don’t know me yet but soon you will,” he said with confidence.
