The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has allegedly failed to pay external production houses.
According to sources, the public broadcaster allegedly only paid two production houses: Stained Glass, which produces Uzalo and Morula Pictures, which produces Generation: The Legacy.
A source told Sunday World that SABC is in a financial crisis, and that the situation seems to be getting worse everyday.
Financial crisis
“As we speak, all the production houses have not been paid except for Stained Glass and Morula Pictures. Last week the situation was so bad that Stained Glass personnel downed tools. They haven’t been paid for at least three months,” said the source.
An insider said: “For now, the crew and the cast haven’t been affected because they’re still getting their salaries. But the management is starting to feel it. Most producers are suffering in silence because they don’t want to jeopardise their relationship with SABC.”
Skeem Saam publicist, Sumaya Mogola could not confirm or deny the allegations. “Unfortunately, I cannot comment on this,” she said before referring Sunday World to the SABC.
Mfundi Vundla, producer of Generations: The Legacy, confirmed that he has been paid.
“We are still working fine with the SABC. We’ve been paid and we’ve paid our people,” said Vundla.
Parliament intervenes
Parliament’s Communications and Digital Technologies Portfolio committee member, Tsholofelo Katlego Bodlani said they are following up on the issues.
“The portfolio committee went on oversight last week and the SABC was one of the entities we engaged with,” she said.
“The issues of non-payment were never raised. I actually raised the issue of non-payment. And it was mainly because there were rumours that SABC could not afford salaries for its employees. But the Group CEO, Nomsa Chabeli, assured us that the SABC was not having any financial difficulties.
“Therefore, I am really surprised by these allegations that there are production houses that were not paid. Especially to the extent that they downed tools.
“It’s something that I’ll have to investigate further so I can make an informed opinion. Otherwise, I wasn’t aware of it,” said Bhodlani.
Well-documented financial woes
SABC’s financial woes are well documented. And and on numerous occasions in the past, the government had to bail them out.
In 2019, SABC owed local producers about R1.6-billion. A debt that was later paid after they were bailed out by the government.
In 2023, Danie Odendaal Productions, which produced 7de Laan, had similar issues. It was forced to shut down because the SABC had failed to pay the company.
An inquiry was sent to the SABC, and the spokesperson, Mmoni Ngubane, had promised to respond before 4pm. However, they failed to respond as promised. The public broadcaster’s comment will be included when the company responds.
