by Thinus Ferreira
The SABC on Monday morning confirmed that it hasn't been able to pay 7de Laan on SABC2 in order for the production company's now-shuttered show to restart filming episodes, with the public broadcaster unable to say when it will do so or how it plans to rectify and fix the disastrous situation.
The SABC on Monday confirmed that it is unable to pay 7de Laan and can't say when
the broadcaster will be paying the company to resume production. The SABC reportedly owes Danie Odendaal Productions "a massive amount of money".
On Monday the 7de Laan cast and crew didn't report for work at Sasani Studios in Johannesburg and started a stayaway after Danie Odendaal Productions shut down production of the long-running SABC2 show which has two months of filming left.
According to industry insiders, members of Danie Odendaal Productions were summoned to a meeting last week Monday at the SABC in Auckland Park where Merlin Naicker, SABC head of video entertainment, and Lala Tuku, SABC head of content for video entertainment, told the production company that the SABC doesn't have any money to pay the show.
Tuku has jetted off to Cape Town where she is a panellist this week at the Fame Week Africa 2023 conference.
"In
terms of the meeting that the SABC had with production houses, it must be noted
that this was one of the regular meetings in which the SABC discussed payment
plans with everyone," Mmoni Seapolelo, SABC spokesperson told TVwithThinus on Monday
morning in response to a media query made on Sunday.
"The SABC is committed to ensuring that all production houses affected are
prioritised and continuous engagements happen with relevant stakeholders to
resolve the matter."
"The situation is regrettable and is as a result of various factors including the
SABC's financial status that is known in the public domain and the external
factors such as the dire effects of analogue switch-off and loadshedding that
affect the audience ratings to enable the SABC to generate revenue as the
corporation relies on this as the main source of income."
"The SABC urges all
interested parties to advocate for the viability of the public broadcaster and
encourage the payment of TV licenses as stipulated by law."
On Sunday Danie Odendaal Productions in response to a media query confirmed that 7de Laan is shutting down due to SABC non-payment.
In a statement the production company said filming is stopping until "the SABC meets its financial obligations" and that "due to these outstanding funds, we are currently unable to cover the salary and operational costs necessary to continue production. As a result, the decision was made to temporarily suspend production until such time as the SABC can fulfil its financial commitments to 7de Laan".
The cast and crew employed by Danie Odendaal Productions have been paid for August, but the production company - since it hasn't been paid by the SABC - doesn't have the money to either continue production or to pay anyone at the end of September and October.
The very real danger now is that 7de Laan will simply end when the SABC abruptly runs out of the last delivered episode months before 26 December when the final episode is supposed to air which hasn't even been filmed yet.
If the SABC doesn't pay Danie Odendaal Productions, filming won't start, with the cast and crew whose contracts only run until 24 October when the final episode was supposed to be filmed after which they are released.
Now the SABC and the production company are losing valuable time they can't get back. Should filming restart, the 7de Laan episodes that remain to be filmed will have to be squeezed into whatever time remains, meanwhile with an even more stressful production schedule.
The show might also lose out on booked and potential guest actors, former actors returning and other artists invited for guests appearances since all of this is now off the table and will have to be reorganised and rescheduled - if or when 7de Laan starts filming again.
