by Thinus Ferreira
After the South African public broadcasters top executives were warned in advance and knew of the notorious non-payment issues of Bakwena Productions but still commissioned this production company to produce Pimville, the show will abruptly go off the air due to non-payment of its cast and crew after the last completed episode is broadcast on Thursday 7 May on SABC2.
Production of Pimville abruptly stopped after cast and crew were not paid at the end of April, similar to them not having been paid at the end of March by Bakwena Productions.
This is the latest chapter in Bakwena Productions' non-payment scandal that is once again damaging South Africa's local TV and film industry.
Bakwena Productions has been mired in a string of defaulting payments for casts and crews of several TV productions that cause schedule and programming disruption to TV channels, along with severe reputational damage to their brands.
Bakwena Productions is also embroiled in a nasty legal battle with Black Brain Pictures after its founder Mandla Ngcongwane, known as Mandla N., borrowed Bakwena Productions R4.2 million in order for Bakwena to allegedly pay casts and crews.
Bakwena has allegedly failed to pay back this loan.
Crews and casts working for Bakwena Productions are now calling for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to launch a formal investigation into the notorious production company that time and again fails to pay people, while the owners live an extravagant lifestyle.
Bakwena Productions is owned by actor Kagiso Modupe and the married couple Rashaka "Rush" Muofhe and Brenda Muofe.
After doing shows like Pound4Pound for Paramount's BET channel where it failed to pay cast and crew what they were owed, it also got a contract from Netflix to produce the Losing Lerato series.
Around 500 background actors, represented by agencies like the Professional Background Artists (PBA) were allegedly left unpaid, leading to a CCMA ruling that ordered Bakwena Productions to pay and settle the outstanding money owed.
Service providers like a transport company, as well as photographers and a guest house operator who provided accommodation and changing areas for the cast and crew, also accused Bakwena Productions of not paying.
The SABC, aware that Bakwena Productions failed to pay and honour financial commitments as it should and promised, still went ahead and commissioned the production company to do Pimville for SABC2 to replace the cancelled Muvhango.
Nomsa Chabeli, SABC CEO, told parliament a year ago in May 2025 that Pimville will bring audiences back to SABC2. Now it won't because there are no further episodes for the SABC to broadcast.
Nomsa Chabeli knew that Bakwena Productions has a problem to pay people and companies. In April 2025, Nomsa Chabeli wrote to Tsholofelo Katlego Bodlani, the DA member who is part of the portfolio committee on communications, confirming that the SABC had contracted Bakwena Productions to make Pimville.
Nomsa Chabeli acknowledged awareness of the payment allegations against Bakwena Productions and gave her assurance that the SABC has appointed a supervising producer to ensure payment compliance to the Pimville cast and crew.
Now, after just a few months on the air, the Pimville cast and crew refused to work further after they were again not paid at the end of April.
Lala Tuku, the SABC's head of local content, told City Press in November 2025, "When we heard about the [non-payment] rumours, we were open and transparent about it. We intensified our discussions. We want to see them win. We want to see young black producers win. It was about how do we handhold."
Lala Tuku further promised in November that the SABC "had put processes in place to ensure Bakwena Productions would not fall behind on payments to cast and crew".
That obviously didn't work at all and the SABC in fact did fail to prevent a recurrence.
Rashaka Muofhe told City Press in November 2025 that Bakwena Productions would not repeat past mistakes with Pimville and that "This project will not be marked by any negative impact".
Several Pimville cast and crew say they were recently held hostage in Soweto for several hours after Bakwena Productions had failed to pay homeowners the rent due for on-location shoots.
The Bakwena Productions owners couldn't be reached for comment.
On Monday 4 May, Rashaka Muofhe sent the cast and crew a Whatsapp blaming the SABC for not paying them.
"Please note production shoot has been temporarily suspended until matters of payment has been resolved with SABC."
"Please note we do apologise for any inconvenience caused and matters are being handled with the necessary urgency required and we are confident that production will soon resume."
"Further communication in terms of payment dates will be communicated once we have confirmation."
The SABC however says it has paid everything it was supposed to, to Bakwena Productions.
In a media query, TVwithThinus asked the SABC for comment specifically about what the broadcaster makes of
Bakwena Productions now doing exactly what it did in the past, by
starting a production and then ending it due to non-payment.
The SABC was aware before awarding a contract to Bakwena Productions that Bakwena
did the same to other TV channels, and yet the SABC chose this
production company - so why did the broadcaster choose this producer
knowing that it is mired in non-payment issues to casts and crews?
Responding to the media query on Wednesday, the SABC says it "became aware of concerns regarding the production company following the commissioning of Pimville and the contracting of Bakwena Productions."
"Following this, a set of risk mitigation measures were put in place. While these interventions were intended to safeguard the production and protect the SABC, recent developments indicate that further action is required."
"We remain committed to ensuring that all productions adhere to the highest standards of governance, accountability, and fair treatment of all industry professionals."
About the Pimville cast and crew battling to just get paid by Bakwena Productions, the SABC notes that the latest non-payment is Bakwena Productions' fault and not the SABC.
"The broadcaster has duly fulfilled its
contractual obligations to Bakwena Productions" says the SABC and adds that the public broadcaster "is therefore up to date with payments, underscoring its commitment to the
smooth running of productions".
The SABC blames Bakwena Productions for the non-payment of the cast and crew who are now suffering.
"It must be noted,
that in this case, the production company concerned is in breach of the
contract with the SABC," the broadcaster says.
"In response to the current situation, the SABC is actively engaging the production company to remedy the situation." The broadcaster says it is "implementing contingency plans to ensure continuity of content on SABC2" for when the final Pimville episode it has left is broadcast on 7 May.
The SABC is "Exploring alternative production solutions, should this become necessary", noting that "We have engaged the cast of Pimville today" - meaning on Wednesday 6 May.
The SABC adds that "The SABC will not be providing further detailed comment at this stage as
the matter is subject to contractual and legal processes."
While the SABC, as a public broadcaster, won't be giving further detailed comment, it is once again the workers within South Africa's TV and film industry, as well as viewers losing a TV show, who are left to suffer.
