Award-winning South African producer and composer Lebo M has claimed that he had to hire security after receiving death threats and that some Zimbabweans wanted to assassinate him following his public fallout with Zimbabwean comedian Learnmore Jonasi. He made the allegations during an interview on the One 54 Podcast.
“The Zimbabweans want to kill me, literally. I have to have security around me now because of this,” Lebo M said.
Lebo M alleged that misinformation surrounding the dispute fuelled public anger against him and left him fearing for his safety. He said the backlash had become so severe that he now lives under security protection.
“Because he fuelled so much anger and misinformation from your platform without this context, it has made people so angry. Would I say something like that on camera? Yes, I have security around me now,” he said.
The producer also linked the controversy to broader tensions surrounding xenophobia in South Africa. He argued that the public had ignored his long history of working with creatives from across the African continent.
“I’m the only person in South Africa that’s hired more Zimbabweans. My whole home has Zimbabweans working for me and I make sure people from all over the continent are working,” he said.
Lebo M said he found it painful that he was being portrayed as anti-Zimbabwean despite his career achievements. He pointed to his work on The Lion King, saying he had always opened doors for African talent.
“For my life, I produced The Lion King South Africa, the first Black person in history to produce the Broadway show. I incorporate Zimbabweans,” he said.
He further claimed that he made several attempts to resolve the dispute with Jonasi before resorting to legal action. According to Lebo M, he reached out through intermediaries and even proposed settling the matter privately.
“I even sent a message that my people are trying to get to you so we can figure out how we can negotiate a settlement of sorts. People must see us have a drink. This has got nothing to do with money,” he said.
Lebo M alleged that those efforts were rejected and that the comedian continued to benefit from the public feud. He said that was when he decided to seek legal advice in South Africa and the United States.
“I still made a white flag video. Even with that, all the efforts that we’ve made were to say, ‘Bro, let’s really end it.’ After that I started talking to my legal teams in LA and South Africa about how to stop this,” he said.
Jonasi has not publicly responded to Lebo M’s latest allegations made during the podcast interview.
