SABC starves actors

The financial crisis at the SABC is a ticking time bomb and production companies are starting to bleed as actors go hungry.

The situation is even worse for smaller production companies, with some retrenching staff and others shutting their doors. Big money spinners like Generations, Skeem Saam and Uzalo are under serious threat.

Companies that do business with the SABC spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised. They told Sowetan that many shows were last paid in March. They said only a fraction of the invoiced amount gets paid at the discretion of the SABC - in other instances no money is paid at all.

So bad are things that some companies have had to take overdrafts and loans to stay afloat. Completed productions that were ready to be aired have been frozen to give space to sponsored content.

Generations creator Mfundi Vundla said the crunch had not affected them badly.

"We are not affected like other productions because we still get 50% payment to do the show. If they don't give us money, we won't be able to do Generations," Vundla said.

Skeem Saam's spokesman Percy Vilakazi responded: "Our salaries have been paid."

Production company owner said the problem was so severe he had to retrench six staff who were on extended contracts.

Since the production companies have a good relationship with the SABC, it's difficult to approach other channels.

"We have never had problems with the SABC. It's a problem now that we have to look elsewhere for jobs. It's a challenge because each channel has its own people it deals with," said the owner.

"On the other side, Mzansi Magic receives about 300 proposals and it's clear that they have their own favourites like Ferguson Films [owned by veteran actress Connie Ferguson and husband Shona]."

Mzansi Magic public relations manager Nondumiso Mabece denied that there was an increase in submissions.

SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said the financial situation at the SABC was public knowledge and was communicated to all service providers.

Kganyago said 85% of SABC revenue came from advertisers and that is why the issue of content was crucial. He said the SABC needed R650-million a month to pay salaries and run the business.

"We have different payment arrangements for our service providers. We can't tell at this point when the situation will be back to normal. When everything is fine we will announce it and they will know."