by Thinus Ferreira
The winners of the 14th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) will now be announced on 29 April 2020 as part of a "virtual awards ceremony" held on the Twitter social media platform after the televised awards show was scuppered in March because of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Because of the growing Covid-19 pandemic and to stem the spread of the ovel coronavirus in South Africa, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) like others in South Africa's TV and film industry was forced to scrap the televised awards show that was scheduled for 27 and 28 March.
On 16 March the NFVF announced the cancellation of the 14th SAFTAs, and then started the process of trying to figure out how to still hand out Golden Horn trophies this year.
Now Dineo Ranaka will do a Twitter awards show on 29 April 2020 at 17:00 to announce the winners in the various categories.
"It has been an incredibly difficult decision to make for all concerned with the running of these awards," says NFVF CEO, Makhosazana Khanyile.
"As the NFVF we extend our sincere gratitude to the nominees and creative industry at large for their understanding and patience as we sought to find solutions. Whilst the celebrations for all our winners will be muted this year, it does not take away from all our deserving winners."
"We consulted widely to find the best possible way of presenting the awards that would still adhear to the lockdown regulations and not put any lives in danger of contracting this deadly virus."
