Annabell Lebethe

Before her tenure as CEO of SAMRO, Ms. Lebethe held the position of CEO of Ditsong Museums of South Africa. Her extensive and distinguished career in the arts and culture sector includes numerous senior and consulting positions, demonstrating her broad understanding and experience in the field.

Ms. Lebethe's career highlights include her role as Chief Executive Officer at the National Arts Council in 2009. She also served as the interim CEO of the Performing Arts Centre of the Free State, where she successfully stabilised the entity, implemented a turnaround strategy, developed the organisational structure, addressed audit findings, and formalised governance structures and operations. Prior to this, she was the CEO of the Market Theatre Foundation, further demonstrating her leadership and management capabilities.

In Ms Lebethe's inaugural year as SAMRO CEO, the organisation saw its biggest royalty distribution in the Radio and General category. Under her leadership, SAMRO has experienced substantial revenue growth, indicating her effective management and strategic direction. She is a stalwart in the creative sector and has initiated numerous Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives for music publishers and composers through SAMRO. These include the inaugural Music Business Lab Training Programme and the Music Business Masterclass (MBM).

Ms Lebethe holds a Master of Public Management qualification from the Regenesys School of Public Management, has completed a programme for Management Development at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), and has a Project Management diploma from Damelin Management School. Additionally, she obtained a National Diploma: Town and Regional Planning from Technikon Witwatersrand (now the University of Johannesburg).