The National Film and Video Foundation's (NFVF) yet-again disastrous 13th South African Film and Television Awards risk becoming even more out-of-touch with ordinary viewers, and irrelevant, with the vast majority of shows that won on Sunday that was not known to, recognised or seen by, or accessible to the majority of South Africa's viewers.
Saturday night's botched live broadcast of the 13th Saftas on SABC2 produced by Clive Morris Productions was awkward in that it took place on a TV channel of the South African public broadcaster - with the SABC forced to give the majority of coverage and exposure to shows and winners not seen by the vast majority of South African TV households and millions of households watching the SABC.
While pay-TV and video streaming stars and shows, completely unfamiliar to the bulk of the audience, were seen by SABC viewers as raking in the majority of the awards, viewers don't understand why they don't see Muvhango, 7de Laan, Generations or The Queen stars or winners.
The reality is that the production companies of several of the SABC's biggest shows are boycotting the NFVF and its Saftas, along with Ferguson Films making programmes for subscription broadcasting like M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel.
Jointly, these shows lure millions of viewers, as the most-watched shows on SABC1, SABC2 and Mzansi Magic, with their continuing and growing absence causing lesser-known and much lesser-seen shows and talent from for instance MultiChoice, M-Net and Showmax to end up winning the available awards.
Generations - The Legacy, produced by Mfundi Vundla's Morula Pictures, for the second consecutive time was boycotting the Saftas as SABC1's and South Africa's second most-watched show and soap, pulling 7.9 million viewers.
Muvhango, SABC2's Venda soap produced by Duma Ndlovu's Word of Mouth productions for the fourth consecutive time and fifth time overall was boycotting the Saftas. Muvhango is SABC2's most-watched show and soap, pulling 6.1 million viewers.
7de Laan, SABC2's Afrikaans language soap with 2.2 million viewers produced by Danie Odendaal Productions, for the third time was boycotting the Saftas.
The telenovela The Queen is the most watched show on all of MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV platform with 1.5 million viewers, while The Throne lured 717 800 viewers in January 2019.
The NFVF and Saftas organisers when asked what specifically they did, told TVwithThinus they did nothing the past year to reach out to unhappy producers to try and sort out the litany of issues that production companies are unhappy with when it comes to the Safta awards.
The Writers' Guild of South Africa (WGSA) is now also contemplating boycotting the NFVF's Saftas from the next awards.
With so many of the biggest shows on South African television just simply gone and Saftas organisers making as if they don't exist, this makes it firstly "strange" to viewers when they watch an awards show like the Saftas but don't know the people they see, haven't watched them, don't have access to the shows, and are not familiar with the stories.
It feels foreign, distant and detached seeing people walking on stage that you don't know, haven't seen and can't relate with.
Secondly, it becomes off-putting and actively audience-alienating for a viewing audience when they don't see their favourite show or shows, or talent appear and also sometimes win.
It actively drives viewers away, who abandon an awards show and tune out when they are made to feel as if their favourite show, actor or talent is being snubbed or deemed "not good enough".
Viewers don't know or understand that their show didn't enter or that stars and productions are actively boycotting an awards show.
All they know and see is that they don't see their shows and stars. Because viewers identify so strongly with a show, they feel that a part of them as a viewer is being rejected. In return, they reject the awards show.
The big danger is that the less inclusive the NFVF's South African Film and Television Awards becomes year after year, the more irrelevant and out-of-touch it becomes as it no longer fully represents and reflects the true taste, favourites and breadth of what's available, made and actually being shown and watched on South African television.
