While reflecting on her journey in the entertainment industry, Nomzamo Mbatha revealed that she was "very underpaid'' during her first year on Mzansi Magic's hit telenovela IsiBaya.
Speaking to a group of students at Nedbank's Talks 4 Success, Nomzamo said her bank account was often overdrawn in most months when she first started out at the telenovela.
"First year at IsiBaya, I earned peanuts, but I was working hard. Most months my bank account was in a minus," she revealed, before quipping about how she would go to industry events without a "black cent" in her account.
She added that on top of being underpaid, she was overworked.
"I was underpaid but I was overworked. The problem was there was a demand for this new girl (herself), ‘we want to book her for this’ but she was not available," she said.
"The value of my time was undervalued. I couldn’t go out there and compensate the money I was losing out on."
It was only after taking a year off to film Tell Me Sweet Something and another TV drama Umlilo, that Nomzamo started understanding the value of her time.
“Me just sitting here is costing me a good R35 000 and the opportunity cost and the marginal activity was not balancing. I went back to Isibaya and I said, 'to compensate me for my time for me to say no to another gig, this is what I think my time is worth’," she said.
Nomzamo Mbatha reflects on her humble beginnings: 'First year at IsiBaya I earned peanuts'
While reflecting on her journey in the entertainment industry, Nomzamo Mbatha revealed that she was "very underpaid'' during her first year on Mzansi Magic's hit telenovela IsiBaya.
Speaking to a group of students at Nedbank's Talks 4 Success, Nomzamo said her bank account was often overdrawn in most months when she first started out at the telenovela.
"First year at IsiBaya, I earned peanuts, but I was working hard. Most months my bank account was in a minus," she revealed, before quipping about how she would go to industry events without a "black cent" in her account.
She added that on top of being underpaid, she was overworked.
"I was underpaid but I was overworked. The problem was there was a demand for this new girl (herself), ‘we want to book her for this’ but she was not available," she said.
"The value of my time was undervalued. I couldn’t go out there and compensate the money I was losing out on."
It was only after taking a year off to film Tell Me Sweet Something and another TV drama Umlilo, that Nomzamo started understanding the value of her time.
“Me just sitting here is costing me a good R35 000 and the opportunity cost and the marginal activity was not balancing. I went back to Isibaya and I said, 'to compensate me for my time for me to say no to another gig, this is what I think my time is worth’," she said.