Makhosazana Khanyile has been appointed as the new permanent CEO of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) where she will be tasked to bring organisational stability to South Africa's film and video foundation that has been rocked by scandal and corruption the past few years, and a possible sweeping overhaul of its criticised and overwrought South African Film and Television Awards.
Makhosazana Khanyile, known as Khosi in TV industry circles, has been the marketing director for Fox Networks Group Africa (FNG Africa) where she recently oversaw the hugely successful exposure blitz of Taraji P. Henson's second South African week-long visit in December 2018 as part of the American drama series Empire on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201).
Prior to that the well-liked and accomplished executive with a solid background in the inner workings of the South African television industry worked at the SABC and M-Net.
Makhosazana Khanyile will take over as NFVF CEO from 1 April 2019, from Shadrack Bokaba who has been acting CEO since the abrupt resignation of Zama Mkosi in May 2018 under a cloud as investigations took place at the NFVF into allegations of corruption.
The Comperio Report into the rot and corruption at the National Film and Video Foundation in 2018 for instance found that staffers took family members on luxury trips to Sun City for the South African Film and Television Awards.
"The appointment follows a rigorous, independent assessment process that saw the commissioning of an independent board of experts constituted to assess and select the best possible candidates for the position," says the NFVF in a statement about Makhosazana Khanyile's appointment.
"The selection and appointment process was beyond reproach, and we are confident that Makhosazana Khanyile will take the NFVF to greater heights and position the South African film industry as a key player on the global stage," says Phil Molefe, NFVF chairperson.
Beyond rightsizing the NFVF on an organisational level, one of Makhosazana Khanyile's big tasks will be to "fix" the perpetually badly-done South African Film and Television Awards.
The 13th Saftas took place on Saturday, marred again by several mistakes and that saw it being boycotted by an an ever-growing number of production companies and producers who don't want to be part of it, and with the Writers' Guild of South Africa (WGSA) also planning to boycott it it after all writing categories have been removed from the main awards ceremony to the technical awards.