Like no real democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the Best TV Soap category for the upcoming 6th South African Film and Television Awards - since not all local South African TV soaps will be included by the organisers.
SABC2 is as upset at the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), organisers of the 6th Saftas, for excluding 7de Laan from the Best TV Soap category this year and not even telling or warning the channel about it. The shocking news I broke last week RIGHT HERE created a furore.
In an exclusive statement to TV with Thinus, SABC2 now says ''we accept with much regret that 7de Laan was not included in the Best TV Soap category. We were not aware that such a category - based on the fact that it's a public-voter’s choice, required a formal submission.''
''More so for 7de Laan, being the undisputed winners of this category for the past few years and an established brand that it is. For the reasons stipulated on the statement issued by the production house, 7de Laan unfortunately could not participate at this year's Saftas.''
SABC2, which doesn't need to apologize, is doing so anyway, saying ''we wish to apologize to our loyal fans and viewers for the disappointment this may have caused. We wish to inform them that this will have no negative bearing on the quality of world class production that 7de Laan will continue to show on their TV screens'' and SABC2 says viewers can continue to tune in on weekdays at 18:30.
SABC2's 7de Laan won the category in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Whatever soap wins this year, it will be a hollow victory since no production would really be able to claim that it's ''the best'' - the category is incomplete.
