Thinus Ferreira
Exactly as has been whispered by anxious South African filmmakers, the cash and crisis-riddled National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has now been forced to scrap the 19th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) for 2025, pushing it to March 2026 and unfairly making more producers and talent compete against each other.
The last time the NFVF, fully funded by the South African government's department of arts, culture and sports, imploded when it failed to properly organise and host a SAFTAs was in 2008. Now it is embarrassingly not happening - happening - again.
Filmmakers, broadcasters, producers and on-screen talent across South Africa have been complaining for months about the utter silence and disrespect from the NFVF that has failed to give any updates about this year's SAFTAs for eight months.
The NFVF, lorded over by Gayton McKenzie, South Africa's current minister of arts, culture and sports, has been scandalised by ongoing top leadership and board instability, with a choir of voices from within the film biz community constantly complaining that the NFVF ffails to properly support them.
No production company has been appointed to stage the awards ceremony, and broadcasters are in the dark that also have to be approach with negotiations to add it to their schedules and a date on which to air it.
Last year the 18th SAFTAs was held in October at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg but filmmakers complained that they've been told nothing this year and that it would be virtually impossible for the NFVF to mount any kind of glitzy award show in the four months left since nominations were supposed to open in March.
The NFVF failed to appoint a production company in time to do the awards show broadcast, nothing was communicated to broadcasters, while a highly frustrated industy are extremely upset about there not being a SAFTAs this year, not being told anything, and being made to compete with entries as an even larger group next year when eligibility will span across a year and a half.
Now the NFVF confirmed the SAFTAs for 2025 is cancelled and being pushed to March 2026.
under Dr Rirhandzu Machaba who is the latest acting NFVF CEO.
The NFVF is desperately trying to put some positive spin on the agency's disastrous inefficiency, saying in a general press release that the 19th SAFTAS "will now take place in March 2026 following a rescheduling from October this year due to organisational changes and a period of renewal within the NFVF".
The "organisational changes" is the constant CEO churn at the NFVF which has limped along with a permanent CEO for two years now and a "period of renewal" that means the entire board got fired by McKenzie, replaced by a new one of which the industry asked members to be fired to, as well as a NFVF apparently fighting with filmmakers allegedly failing in providing proper support.
The NFVF says that it has "rescheduled the 19th SAFTAs to take place in March 2026".
"The decision to move the awards is the result of leadership changes within the NFVF and related unforeseen delays, which have now enabled a broader period of organisational renewal."
"This transition has provided us with an opportunity to strengthen governance, sharpen our strategic focus, and reinforce the NFVF’s role as the custodian of the SAFTAs. This adjustment also ensures that the SAFTAs align with the international awards calendar, providing South African talent the opportunity to be celebrated in parallel with major global film and television awards."
"Furthermore, it allows the SAFTAs to revert to the original timeline of March, which had changed due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This shift will ensure that the event is marked consistently in the industry calendar every year moving forward in the interest of consistency and forward-planning."
According to the NFVF, the 19th SAFTAs will now be forced to make the eligibility period longer. It is also something filmmakers, producers and talent already complained about and said would happen if the SAFTAs is cancelled for 2025.
They say they already struggle to stand out and will now have to compete with a period of 18 months in film and TV, instead of 12 months.
The NFVF says " If the 19th SAFTAs took place in 2025, eligibility would pertain to projects that have been on air, screened in cinemas or streamed online between 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024".
"Given this shift back to March of each year, the eligibility criteria for the 19th SAFTAs will expand to a period of 18 months for projects that have been on air, screened in cinemas or streamed online between 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2025. This will be a once-off exception given the unique circumstances."
"Moving forward, eligibility will revert to a 12-month cycle, meaning that for SAFTAs20 in March 2027, eligibility would be for projects that have been on air, screened in cinemas or streamed online between 1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026."
Dr Rirhandzu Machaba, in a prepared corporate communications quote, says "In 2026 we look forward to celebrating an industry that continues to rise, inspire, and unite. SAFTAs19 will mark a moment for the industry to come together, reflect on our journey, and re-imagine the path ahead under the theme One Story, One Industry, One Future."
"It is both a celebration and a commitment: to tell our stories with pride, to stand together as one,
and to work towards an even brighter future for South African film and television."