by Thinus Ferreira
The crew and cast of Bakwena Productions and Paramount Africa's Pound 4 Pound series on BET (DStv 129) who are still unpaid after months are adamant that they must and will get the money owed to them and and won’t stop exposing the hidden
plight of casts and crews who remain unpaid and are often forced to suffer
financially in silence.
After multiple failed payment promises by Kagiso Modupe and Rashaka Muofhe's Bakwena Productions the crew and cast refuse to let the non-payment issue go.
Since September crew and cast members have lost homes and been evicted, had to give up rentals in Johannesburg and move further away to where there's less potential work, had to sell camera equipment and even cars to try and survive financially.
Paramount Africa which commissioned the 13-episode Pound 4 Pound says it had paid its part of the production cost for the boxing series that was aired on its BET Africa (DStv 129) channel.
Paramount Africa was asked last week but remains silent on whether it will work with Bakwena Productions again in future and whether it's changing the way it's dealing with South African productions in order to ensure that with upcoming shows an issue of non-payment of cast and crew does not occur.
Pound 4 Pound is the third Paramount Africa production where cast and crews are struggling to get their money due after the same thing happened with Clive Morris Productions' Isono and then also Queendom this year which were both BET Africa shows as well.
Last month Monde Twala, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager and lead for BET International, in response to a media query last month said that Paramount Africa had communicated with Bakwena Productions "to ensure that any outstanding payments are processed accordingly" and that it wants ensure that "any outstanding payments are addressed as swiftly as possible."
That didn't happen and many workers are struggling to survive.
None of the payment promises were kept and at the end of December, there were again no payments.
In October when a Pound 4 Pound crew member told Rashaka Muofhe in a text message that he is desperate to get paid what he was promised, Muofhe responded with a disinterested: "I'm of the opinion that the home was not purchased on my name".
Around 60 crew, actors and call actors who worked on Pound 4 Pound are represented by Advocate Carol-Ann Myburgh who have taken Bakwena Productions and Kagiso Modupe and Rashaka Muofhe to court to get their money owed.
Brandon Auret who portrayed the character of Frans on Pound 4 Pound, tells TVwithThinus "another production that hasn't paid their crew and cast have now joined on as well".
"It's incredible how many people have come out the woodwork now. I think what's really sad is how scared people are to come forward and to speak out because they are afraid of working for people again, that then won't pay them."
Last week Auret had to put his own car up for sale as well. "Luckily my wife's got a car but I'm owed thousands of rand. They owe someone else R120 000, someone else R80 000," he says.
Paramount Africa didn't respond to a media query made since earlier last week asking what has been done to resolve the situation with the BET show, what its stance is towards Bakwena Productions, and what it makes of industry workers saying they're wary of working on BET shows in future, fearing now that they will also meet a fate of not getting paid.
Kagiso Modupe's phone rang unanswered when called for comment since earlier last week he didn't respond to text messages.