A Chip Off The Old Block

Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha’s son is following in his famous dad’s footsteps – even though the veteran actor would prefer him to stick to music

- Khosi Biyela

A GOOD guy, a villain and a politician – he’s played them all with the poise of the true professional. Yet the role that means the most to the veteran actor is that of proud father.

Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha (61) and Claudine, his wife of 37 years, have five children: Tsakane (36), Palesa (33), Lerato (30), Mpho (26) and Mosa (24). But it’s their middle child, Lerato Makhetha, who was bitten by the acting bug like his old man – and the one who, in honour of Father’s Day, joins his dad to talk about their relationship.

The pair is close and Jerry clearly sup­ ports his son – but it wasn’t always this way. For a while Jerry, who plays Bra Moscow in e.tv’s Scandal!, refused to accept his kid could be any good as an actor and it took him a while to give his boy the green light to forge his own path in the industry.

We visit the family home in Obser­vatory, east of Johannesburg, where Jerry leads us to a dining area overlooking the manicured garden.

Lerato, who spent eight years as a musician and is also known as Larry Soulo from the old­school funk band Throwback, is making a name for him­ self in the profession his father has commanded for the past 30 years.

ALTHOUGH Lerato was a shy kid, he liked to joke and fool around, his father recalls. “We’d get home after visiting friends and he wouldn’t be there. We’d look for him for hours and finally drive back to our friends’ house to get him. Then he’d pop out of the back of the van and yell ‘Surprise!’ after hiding there all along.”

They both laugh. “We laugh now, but it wasn’t funny then,” Jerry adds.

These days they have a great relationship. “We’re loyal and truthful to each other,” Jerry says.