By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor

The arts community has welcomed the appointment of Annabell Lebethe as the new Chief Executive officer of music rights collection organisation South Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) with effect from January 1, 2023.

Lebethe has been at the helm of several arts agencies mainly in the public sector for a number of years. These included the National Arts Council, (NAC), the Market Theatre Foundation and currently the Ditsong National Museums of South Africa.,

” The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) is pleased to announce the appointment of Annabell Lebethe as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who will step into the role on 1 January 2023,” the organisation said in a statement  this week, confirming her appointment.

Samrro collects composers’ royalties, a role that has seen it sometimes at the coal face of   accusations by musicians over their royalties. However in the past five years, the organisation was involved in cleaning up its house in the face of these perennial problems. It will therefore be interesting see how Lebethe will navigate this new terrain.

Lebethe is holder of a Masters Degree in Public Management from Regenesys.

.In the meantime, the arts community has largely welcomed her appointment, a good start in this position that often attracts the close scrutiny and fire from the music sector when it comes to paying out royalties to artists as well as issues of transparency. Congratulations were posted on social media plaforms yesterday following the announcement of her appointment.

Mercy Pakela : “Congratulations we hope for the best”.

Sylvia Glasser: Congratulations dear Annabell Lebethe!!!”

Sibongile Mngoma:  “Congratulations Ms Annabell Lebethe on your appointment as CEO for SAMRO. Please make it count. Musicians have suffered for years. Be the change that we see.”.

Tilo Von Brandis: “Lets see if she can clean up the mess or if she will be implicated in corruption.