Thinus Ferreira
Skeem Saam is no longer filmed at Sasani Studios but at the SABC's Henley studio facilities in Auckland Park as part of the South African public broadcaster's new initiative to move productions to in-house studio space in the SABC's ongoing cost-cutting measures.
From September, SABC1's Skeem Saam is filmed at the SABC and no longer at eMedia Holdings' Sasani Studios in Highlands North in Johannesburg where the show was produced for decades.
The move is unrelated to the Skeem Saam on-set fire in February at Sasani Studios that saw two crew members injured and hospitalised.
The SABC started looking into bringing more of its productions in-house in 2024 to save costs.
As Skeem Saam is concerned, the first phase of the transition was done and completed in November last year when Skeem Saam's post-production operations moved to the SABC.
The SABC, in its latest 2024/'25 annual report, states that Skeem Saam's full studio move from Sasani Studios to the SABC was scheduled to be completed by September 2025.
"Bringing these and other productions in-house will help the business reduce costs previously spent on third parties," the SABC notes.
PEU Communications told TVwithThinus that Skeem Saam "officially transitioned its production from Sasani Studios to the SABC in Auckland Park officially on 1 September. We are now fully operating from the SABC studio space and the move has gone smoothly, with everyone well settled in".
