I'D LIKE to extend congratulatory praise to Clint Eastwood There's the good, the bad and the not so ugly ...

Well done, Clint, and shame on those who have problems with Morgan Freeman playing Madiba and Jennifer Hudson playing Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

You had the book - never mind the main characters - in your surroundings and you were in their presence the whole time. So what stopped you from writing a script and getting resources to make the movie?

You are all caught up with Muvhango and the likes. Now that Eastwood has created a gem your jealousy makes you hate. Make your own movie, man!

There are many apartheid tales, so why does Florence Masebe not play Limpho Hani in the soon-to-be-created John Kani flick on Hani. Kani can play Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Sello Maake ka Ncube's Life of a Bishop.

Please stop this jealousy. We have all been equally endowed with creativity. Don't burn at the stake those who step out of the safe harbour and explore the seas of their dreams.

Freeman owns this movie. He took the script to Eastwood. Why should he not play the role of the man he venerates?

And it is not like Masebe is doing Oscar-worthy stuff on Muvhango. It irritates me that we who lived under apartheid have not yet created an Oscar-winning apartheid flick, but are quick to castigate those who do.

Let's use the stones we are so quick to hurl to build a solid foundation. Let's reveal the creativity within.

Gugu Mabele, Johannesburg