by Thinus Ferreira
The South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) chairperson Jack Devnarain has slammed the silence from South Africa's film and TV industry, as well as minister of arts and culture Gayton McKenzie, over the failure to protect the rights of crews and casts.
SAGA has also written to two national government departments - the department of arts and culture, as well as the department of employment and labour - asking for urgent intervention over the non-payment of freelance actors and crew working in the industry.
In response, on social media, Gayton McKenzie attacked Jack Devnarain saying he is "creating the impression that I am silent or found wanting".
The cast and crew of SABC1's The Executives, produced by Sawita Productions are waiting to be paid.
The cast of Paramount Africa's Queendom on MultiChoice's BET Africa (DStv 129) channel and produced by Clive Morris Productions (CMP) are waiting to be paid with production of the show that has again shut down after crew and cast were not paid at the end of December.
The cast and crew of Paramount Africa's Pound 4 Pound, produced by Bakwena Productions and shown on BET Africa finally got paid after having to fight for several months to get the money they were owed.
In a public video that went viral, Jack Devnarain criticised South Africa's film and TV industry over its silence to address the ongoing issue of non-payment of casts and crews, and he noted that producers, the government and industry organisations refuse to speak out publicly which damages the suffering industry.
"Silence from producers, broadcasters, government, and industry organisations is the sound of failure - and nobody wants to step up and admit they failed to protect the rights of performers, crew and background actors," Jack Devnarain said.
"The problem is we have normalised silence. If you step back and look at the damage inflicted on the industry through non-payments, there should be all kinds of alarms, sirens, and media statements by the government, ministers wagging their fingers. There should be interventions by industry organisations, but no, none of that is happening - just silence."
In a nasty retort on X, formerly Twitter, Gayton McKenzie lashes out, saying "Many celebrities use social media to bully government officials, they want us to jump when they speak. I'm different, your time of exclusive access is over, you might be famous but you are not more important than other artists."
In SAGA's letters to the two departments, the organisation explains that actors in South Africa are offered contracts that favour the commercial interests of broadcasters and producers who are exploiting performers' lack of bargaining power.
Since the sector is unregulated, it "renders freelancers - particularly previously disadvantaged persons - vulnerable to unethical and abusive labour practices”.
