BREAKING. SABC1's fired Generations cast now going to High Court; demand that the SABC stop broadcasting 'new' Generations by 10 January 2015.

With plummeting ratings and having lost millions of viewers more drama is waiting behind the scenes for SABC1's beleaguered restarted soap with the fired principal cast now taking their cast to the High Court with help from a former SABC CEO and demanding that the SABC stop broadcasting Generations: The Legacy at the latest by 10 January 2015.

While viewers have soured in their millions and turned on the soap which restarted at the beginning of last week after a break of two months due to acrimonious infighting behind the scenes between the fired principal cast and the SABC and MMSV Productions, the Generations Actors Guild (SAG) is now going to challenge their dismissal by producer Mfundi Vundla in the High Court.

In the ever-widening scandal they're helped in their battle against the SABC and Mfundi Vundla by none other than the former SABC CEO, advocate Dali Mpofu. 

They've now withdrawn their case from the CCMA and is going to the High Court instead.

The SABC's now acting CEO Hlaudi Motsoeneng promised the fired Generations cast three year contracts in June 2013 which more than a year later didn't materialise.

They also never got payment, known as residuals – and specified in their existing contracts – for the multiple rebroadcasts in South Africa and resales of the soap internationally. They eventually embarked on a stayaway and were promptly fired.

The scandal dominated TV and entertainment headlines since mid-August when the cast was fired, with ugly mudslinging between Mfundi Vundla and the SABC and the fired cast – something which has not been lost on viewers. 

The reset soap – sans the familiar faces – had a debut last Monday of 7.5 million viewers 15 and older – the demographic most coveted by advertisers, but plunged to a shocking 4.1 million viewers by this past Friday.

Now the Generations Actors Guild says the SABC, Mfundi Vundla and MMSV Productions breached some of their rights as defined in the South African Constitution. 

The Generations Actors Guild delivered a legal letter demanding that the "new" Generations be taken off SABC1 by the SABC no later than 10 January 2015.

Dali Mpofu told the Generations Actors Guild that besides labour rights, their issue involves contractual and constitutional issues.

"The decision by MMSV Productions and the SABC to create a new show while the case with the Generations cast was as yet unresolved represents a breach of the contractual and fundamental constitutional rights of the actors and they both did so knowing there was a pending dispute and hence it was at their own risk," says the actors' attorney, Bulelani Mzamo.

"The cast had always expressed their desire to return to work. Their withdrawal of services was taken as a last resort, based on the fact that this agreement was continuously violated."

"The actors consistently expressed their willingness to return to work. Nonetheless, MMSV Productions hired new actors and commenced with a new production, Generations The Legacy, knowing that they have not resolved the fundamental contractual issues with the cast of Generations. It is on this basis that we are taking the cast to the High Court."

"Generations The Legacy should never have been produced and aired while the current dispute was still unresolved."

"This is going to be an important case – not only for defining the rights of the actors, the production company and the SABC, but also the interests of the licence-paying public and the millions of Generations fans across the country and the continent," says Bulelani Mzamo.

Mfundi Vundla says SABC will 'take a knock' in viewership with Generations off the air; says 'we will claw our way back to our original position'.

With the SABC's most watched show, Generations, abruptly off the air and out of episodes following a nasty firing of the principal cast, producer Mfundi Vundla warns that the SABC "will take a knock in regard to audiences" but that the production plans to fight back to regain viewer's loyalty and trust.

Generations has been the SABC and South African television's biggest TV show in viewership numbers and the South African Broadcasting Corporation's biggest revenue generator on television.

Now it's gone, and with it the high price tag for ads the SABC could command while the SABC is set to likely lose audience share as viewers abandon the SABC1 timeslot of 20:00 on weeknights now padded in an emergency measure with the educational youth drama Skeem Saam's third season that was shown at 18:30.

"We will take a knock in regard to audiences. Let's be realistic. That's to be expected. But we believe we will claw our way back to our original position," Mfundi Vundla told SABC3's morning show Expresso in a sit-down interview.

The final episode of Generations was broadcast on Tuesday night on SABC1 at 20:00 with the broadcaster and MMSV Productions episode cupboard bare for the first time in 20 years since it started in 1994.

Over the past two decades Generations perenially became the most watched TV show and primetime soap on South African television commanding a hefty R220 000 from advertisers for a 30 second ad spot, luring millions of viewers more than the rest of the popular programmes on the country's top 10 most watched list.

It leaves the show and the SABC's massive average of 8 million viewers free to explore other TV channels and shows after MMSV Production with the consent of the SABC fired Generations' entire principal cast in August and refused to give them their promised three year contracts, better pay rates and residual back payments for rebroadcasts stretching back years.

The principal cast, collectively known as the Generations Actors Guild (GAG) went on strike in August, demanding the long overdue three year contracts personally promised to them by the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng more than a year ago in June 2013, higher pay rates that compare better to other local TV soaps, as well as residuals for rebroadcasts and resales of the show which they are entitled to in their existing contracts but which never happened.

The Generations Actors Guild is now taking the SABC and MMSV Productions to the CCMA.

Meanwhile South Africa's TV industry has been left aghast at the public broadcaster's loss of it's biggest on-air property and moneymaker and the untold damage inflicted on the image of the SABC, SABC1 and Generations.

Experts have been wondering why the SABC's top management spectacularly failed to properly and quickly solve the impasse in the month and a half before the available Generations episodes ran out, and what it means for the rest of the SABC's shows if the public broadcaster's biggest local TV production and flagship programme can suddenly stops showing due to a production implosion.

In July, before the strike, when the SABC announced new schedules for SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 the broadcaster boldly stated that Generations will remain in the primetime spot of 20:00.

Leo Manne, the now indefinitely suspended general manager for TV channels at the SABC told the press in July that "nothing touches Generations. We dare not move it". Two months later the SABC's biggest show is not even on the schedule.

It also means that MMSV Productions is actually in contract breach. Last month SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said that "MMSV is in a contract with the SABC to produce Generations and if they don't deliver, they will be going against that contract."

The TV show that Nelson Mandela once praised for nation building has behind the scenes been a far cry from reconciliation, unity and peace and also lost head writer and co-producer Bongi Ndaba who abruptly quit last month after 8 years with the show.

MMSV Productions and Mfundi Vundla who said he will never take the actors back is now working behind-the-scenes to try and come up with a "new" Generations as viewers got now resolution to multiple storylines which just abruptly ended on Tuesday.

In the Expresso interview Mfundi Vundla admitted that viewers can flee from the 20:00 timeslot on SABC1 they've tuned to for decades.

"Viewers can tune out and go somewhere else. Which is what pains me about what's going on right now. Our viewers have been put under a lot of stress," said Mfundi Vundla.

"I wish to apologise to the South African people and apologise to the Generations audience."

Mfundi Vundla told Expresso that "we are reconstructing Generations. They will recognise elements of the present Generations but we are taking a new creative direction".

He said that "our relation with the 16 actors who terminated their services, that relationship is irrevocably damaged and toxic.

"We are going back to our original roots of the series. Viewers will recognise individuals who were there at the beginning of the series, which anchors the new narrative, so people will recognise elements from the past in the new direction we are taking".

Generations is also going much younger in the way that e.tv's Rhythm City and the soaps and telenovellas on M-Net's Mzansi Magic channel on DStv have been incorporating younger characters to lure a younger audience.

"We are going younger. There's a predominance of 20 to 24 year olds, early 30's actors who will be in the show. Our stories will be entertaining. There's light entertainment elements and there's also dark elements in the new show," Mfundi Vundla told Expresso.

The disappearance of the soap for months from SABC1 cuts viewers loose from their longtime primetime habitual viewing to sample alternative programmes on competitor TV channels ranging from the growing number of community TV stations like SowetoTV to Mzansi Magic on MultiChoice's DStv and Platco Digital's OpenView HD which has channels like eKasi+.

SABC dumps Generations from SABC1 as show runs out of recorded episodes following firing of cast; SABC plans new show from December.

The SABC has been forced to shelve the public broadcaster's biggest revenue earner, admitting that Generations will disappear from the SABC1 schedule from October, calling it part of a "minor schedule change".

This follows the strike of the principal cast last month who were promptly fired by Mfundi Vundla and MMSV Productions with the permission of the SABC.

It follows months of unhappiness behind the scenes for the actors after the SABC's controversial and famously matricless chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng in June 2013 promised the cast three year contracts.

The actors banded together and demanded the promised contracts, better pay rates and better working conditions and were fired.

The Generations Actors Guild (GAG) as the actors organised themselves, told me late Friday afternoon that they have now filed papers with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for re-instatement.

"We've been clear that we are open to negotiation and discussions – but were resolute in our commitment to transforming unfair industry practices". GAG says no negotiations or meetings with the SABC have taken place.

The TV industry remains in shock, closely following the nasty and high-profile real-life soap opera playing out publicly and which has kept the local showbiz tongues wagging.

An incredulous TV industry still can't believe that SABC management has been unable to salvage the situation and keep its number one flagship programme.

The SABC will no longer be able to guarantee the average of 8 million viewers tuning in on weeknights at 20:00, and will, therefore, no longer be able to command the impressive R220 000 spot price per 30 second ad break during the show – the highest ad rate on any of the SABC's TV channels.

Meanwhile, Cosatu's pleas for viewers to boycott the show last week fell on deaf ears. Viewership since last Monday surged by an average of 200 000 viewers more than before the SABC's Generations scandal started and the production of daily episodes imploded.

Viewers are desperate to catch the last remaining episodes and late on Friday the SABC confirmed that Generations is disappearing from the SABC1 schedule from October for months – the biggest single programming disruption to the SABC Television schedule since television started in 1976, given the duration and the sizeable audience affected.

South African TV soaps film episodes around a month in advance, and Generations is fast running out of the last existing episodes. The last remaining episodes will be shown the next week and a half and is set to end abruptly with several unresolved cliff-hangers.

The SABC calls it "minor changes" and says Generations "will be revamped" after the 16 actors "were terminated by MMSV Productions".

"From Wednesday 1 October Generations will be off screen until December as new episodes are filmed," says the SABC. The third season of Skeem Saam will now be broadcast at 20:00 from October. Generations will no longer be repeated on SABC3.

Instead, Muvhango will be repeated daily on SABC2, and Muvhango will then also repeat on SABC3 in the Generations timeslot from October.

The SABC says it "would like to appeal to the public to be patient as we deal with the challenges currently faced in ensuring the longevity of Generations".

Interestingly the SABC is also returning the Afrikaans TV news from SABC3 back to SABC2 from 3 November after the broadcaster shunted the bulk of its Afrikaans programming from July from SABC2 to SABC3 which has a much smaller broadcasting footprint in a highly controversial move, which caused a public outcry.

The SABC says the Afrikaans news will be back at 19:00 on SABC2 from 3 November.

The SABC says the "shifting of news programming is a result of the SABC listening to its audience's feedback".

FIRED GENERATIONS CAST: SABC 'an embarrassment' says iconic John Kani; SABC and MMSV Productions want to 'dispose of actors like diapers'.

In an emotional speech, the iconic and highly respected South Africa actor, playwright, director and producer John Kani lashed the beleaguered SABC, calling the South African public broadcaster "an embarrassment", following the shocking sacking of the Generations cast by the SABC and Mfundi Vundla's MMSV Productions.

John Kani said the SABC and MMSV Productions is trying to "dispose the actors like diapers".

John Kani blasted the SABC and MMSV Productions, likening the SABC's actions to oppressive apartheid behaviour. "It [the firing] carries the residue of an apartheid-style master, servant relationship," he said. 

"I have stab wounds, I have evaded assassination and I spent time in detention. This is not what I fought for as an actor".

The shock firing of the principal cast of South Africa's biggest TV show and the SABC's biggest cash cow making hundreds of millions per year for the broadcaster, sent shock waves though the South African TV industry with very vocal criticism continuing to build from the industry demanding reform and regulations regarding actors' contracts and fees.

The Generations cast was dismissed last Monday after a weeklong stayaway when the cast demanded the long-overdue three year contracts the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng promised them in June 2013, as well as higher pay rates, and the payment of residuals for rebroadcasts as well as international sales of the show.

The SABC wanted to pay the Generations actors R3 000 once-off in residuals for a decade of Generations rebroadcasts but the cast, organised as the Generations Actors Guild (GAG) balked.

Yesterday in Newtown at the Barney Simon theatre the Generations cast, wearing black and white, took to the stage at a press conference, supported by highly respected industry heavy-weights like John Kani's whose own son, Atandwa Kani, was fired.

"Because the conditions we work under are still master and servant, we are disposable like diapers. The problem is the change of mindset. We are equal. Overseas series and soaps don't have this problem where actors are disposable," said John Kani.

"They know that the value of the series is dependent on these individuals, actors, continuing in their artistic excellence to create these characters".

"It's very sad for me to say that I've just done a series with iNkaba with Mzansi Magic and M-Net. I was treated with incredible respect. I don't know how the SABC and MMSV Productions don't understand that. Artists - lets know what we are worth," said John Kani.

"It's arrogance, it's stupidity to think you can tell these actors in one letter you are all fired. Come on guys, we didn't struggle for this? We didn't spent our lives in the struggle so that we could be treated like we're in apartheid."

"Lets make sure no-one walks on the set of Generations. I don't care whether its the script writer, the editor, or the boom carrier, technicians. We will block the doors. We will not continue this treatment," said John Kani.

"To our union: This is the time we block the doors of Generations. This is the time we stand up and make sure that these actors are taken back".

John Kani said he is "embarrassed by the Generations salaries". "I've worked for much more money since the 70s. An average of R55 000 for Generations is working for below a slave's salary. I wouldn't work for that for a day as an on-call actor on Generations."

"Lets do something. Because if you don't do anything, Muvhango actors will be fired tomorrow, 7de Laan actors tomorrow, isiBaya tomorrow, Zabalaza tomorrow. All of them would be fired tomorrow - because we did nothing," said John Kani.

"These Generations actors don't deserve to be treated with such disrepect. 

BREAKING. Fired Generations actors to return to work; cast and SABC to sit down in negotiation meeting today or tomorrow.

The fired Generations actors will return to work.

Talks will start between the Generations Actors Guild, the SABC and production company Morula Pictures at a meeting held today or tomorrow to reinstate the fired actors who were dismissed last Monday.

Minister of arts and culture Nathi Mthethwa met with the fired principal cast of the biggest TV show in South Africa and the SABC's biggest soap on Monday who sat down in an emotional meeting with the SABC management and the interim committee of the Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa.

MMSV Productions and the SABC fired the Generations cast last Monday after a week long stayaway, prompted by MMSV Productions and the SABC's failure to make good on promised three year contracts the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng in June 2013 told the cast they would get.

The cast also wanted pay rate adjustments and back payments on residuals for rebroadcasts as well as international sales of the show which has not been paid.

"It is a significant step in the right direction that both the actors and the SABC have arrived at this stage where they are willing to engage in talks to find a solution to this matter," says Nathi Mthethwa.

"Everyone accepts that we are dealing with substantive issues that cannot be resolved overnight but require principled commitment and time to move us forward".

BREAKING. Fired Generations cast scandal: Duelling press conferences coming as SABC and then Generations cast will tell their story.

Duelling press conferences are planned in the growing scandal swirling around the beleaguered SABC and Morula Pictures (MMSV Productions) which fired the Generations cast on Monday - with the SABC holding a press conference today at 11:00 and the Generations Actors Guild holding a press conference on Monday.

The SABC and MMSV Productions which fired the Generations principal cast on Monday after striking, is holding a press conference today at the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters from 11:00 to 12:30 in the Ground Floor Auditorium (using Radio Park entrance 4).

The SABC and Morula Pictures says it wants to "set the record straight" around "issues" pertaining to Generations. It follows after anger and a public backlash has been building against the SABC and Morula Pictures following the firing from the public, actors and the South African TV industry.

The Generations Actors Guild is holding their own press conference on Monday, 25 August at 14:00 at the Market Theatre's Barney Simon Theatre in Newtown.

"The Generations Actors Guild notes with interest that MMSV Productions and the SABC are holding a press conference to 'clear the air' around the dismissal of the 16 members of the Generations cast".

"The Guild also notes with dismay that the SABC and MMSV Productions have been on a campaign of communicating misinformation about salaries and rates that the cast allegedly earns".

"These claims are a blatant untruth, and the guild recognises them for what they are - a petty tactic to turn the public against the cast and paint them as opportunistic, greedy and overpaid."

'Equally concerning is the fact that their erstwhile employers deem it appropriate to reveal salaries - even as they are a complete fabrication. As an action,it is unethical and totally inappropriate".

"The members of the Generations Actors Guild will hold a press conference where they will speak to the issues and provide a proper and true context of their working conditions and issues that led them to this point," says the guild.

BREAKING. Cosatu blasts SABC over 'indecisive intervention' after firing of Generations cast; 'dismayed' by MMSV Productions' attitude.

Cosatu is blasting the beleaguered SABC for the SABC's "indecisive intervention" for failing to do anything in 10 months about the Generations cast's pleas who were fired on Monday, and says it is "dismayed" by MMSV Productions.

The trade federation in a statement condemns the shocking actions of the SABC and MMSV Productions who on Monday fired the Generations cast on SABC1 following a second strike the united actors embarked on.

The dismissal of the principal Generations cast has sent shockwaves through South Africa's television industry.

Generations ranks as the most watched TV show in South Africa with an average of 7.5 million viewers every weeknight, is the most watched soap, the most lucrative TV show of the SABC and commands a price of R200 000 per 30 second ad spot during its 20:00 primetime timeslot.

It was the Generations cast's second strike in 10 months at the SABC1 soap over exactly the same issues of wanting three year contracts from the SABC as it was promised in 2013, better paying contracts, as well as back payment for rebroadcasts and international sales of the show - all issues that the SABC promised to give attention but failed to do.

The federation said it was dismayed by the attitude of the production company MMSV Productions.

"The federation urges the actors to work with them [SABC and production company] to reach an acceptable settlement, get their jobs back, continue to entertain their millions of fans, and create a precedent for all actors to be treated with respect," says Patrick Craven, Cosatu spokesperson in a statement.

Third South African government minister to intervene in SABC's firing of Generations cast scandal: Nathi Mthethwa is 'deeply concerned'.

The minister of South Africa's department of arts and culture, Nathi Mthethwa says he is "deeply concerned" about the latest SABC scandal which saw the shocking wholesale firing of the Generations cast on SABC1 on Monday by the SABC and MMSV Productions.

The Generations cast was fired on Monday by the SABC and MMSV Productions following a second strike the united actors embarked on since last Monday.

The dismissal of the principal Generations cast has sent shockwaves through South Africa's television industry.

Generations ranks as the most watched TV show in South Africa with an average of 7.5 million viewers every weeknight, is the most watched soap, the most lucrative TV show of the SABC and commands a price of R200 000 per 30 second ad spot during its 20:00 primetime timeslot.

It was the Generations cast's second strike in 10 months at the SABC1 soap over exactly the same issues of wanting three year contracts from the SABC as it was promised in 2013, better paying contracts, as well as back payment for rebroadcasts and international sales of the show - all issues that the SABC promised to give attention but failed to do.

On Tuesday the ANC majority government said the minister of communications and the minister of labour will be intervening and getting involved in the dispute.

Today the government said the minister of arts and culture will get involved, making it the third minister giving attention to the Generations cast firing.

requested the intervention of the ministers of communications and labour in the dispute," says ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa in a statement.

"We are willing to engage with all the relevant people to help find a speedy and amicable resolution to this matter," says Nathi Mthethwa in a statement.

"We are deeply concerned about these developments and hope that SABC management, the production company and worker representatives will work together to reach a speedy resolution to this matter".

Nathi Mthethwa says the government supports the formation of a strong creative workers' representative body to look after the interests of artists in South Africa.

Meanwhile the SABC plans to have a press conference on Friday at 11:00 at its Auckland Park headquarters in Johannesburg to give the public broadcaster's talking points after firing the Generations cast.

BREAKING. Fired Generations cast: 'Great effort has been put into painting us as greedy actors. This is about our livelihoods, not a lifestyle'.

The fired principal Generations cast who got dismissed by the SABC and MMSV Productions on Monday after walking off the set due to the SABC's failure in 10 months  to do good on the promised three year contracts, better pay rates and back payment for rebroadcasts of the show, is speaking out, saying "a great deal of effort has been put into painting us as greedy actors who want to lead extravagant lifestyles".

"Nothing could be further from the truth. This is about our livelihoods, not a lifestyle," says the Generations Actors Guild.

"We are fighting for industry conditions that are recognised as international best practice in the creative industry and economy. We thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support, and look forward to a resolution to this lamentable situation".

The principal cast that has now banded together as the Generations Actors Guild first went on strike in October 2013 for weeks after being coaxed back to work by the SABC with promises that the situation will be rectified.

In November the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng who personally intervened, in a statement announced that "this matter has finally been laid to rest".

It clearly wasn't. The Generations actors asked the SABC for the three year contracts promised to them personally by Hlaudi Motsoeneng in June 2013 instead of of the one year renewals, higher pay rates, as well as back payments for rebroadcasts and repeats, and payments for sales and international sales of the lucrative and popular soap to other TV channels as well as broadcasters in Africa.

On Monday the SABC and MMSVp Productions fired the massive principal cast on South Africa's most watched TV show which is also the most watched overall TV programme on South African television and the most watched soap.

Generations has an average weeknight audience of 7.5 million which commands R200 000 per 30 second ad spot and earns hundreds of millions of rands per year for the public broadcaster.

Since then the public backlash against the SABC and MMSV Productions have been growing, with anger from South African celebrities, actors, presenters and three South African ministers who've decided to get involved.

"Embarking on this action was a difficult decision for all of us, but in light of the events that transpired, we really didn't see any other option available to us," says the Generations Actors Guild.

"We have always been clear that we wanted an open dialogue, but sadly this hasn't been forthcoming".

"It is extremely encouraging therefore to receive such an outpouring of support from fans, fellow workers and various industry and political organisations," says the Generations Actors Guild.

REACTION OVER FIRED GENERATIONS CAST: SABC and Generations face angry backlash as outrage grows from SA celebrities, actors.

An angry backlash is building and growing against the beleaguered SABC and the Generations producers from South African actors and celebrities voicing their opinions following the wholesale firing of the Generations cast on SABC1 on Monday by the SABC and executive producer Mfundi Vundla from MMSV Productions on Monday.

The former Generations actor and now Hollywood star Fana Mokoena who played Doctor Mandla Sithole during the 1990s on the SABC's most watched show, criticised the dismissal of the actors, saying its an industry wide problem.

Fana Mokoena said that actors need to stand together in general, to be represented by a solid actors' representative body.

TV and radio presenter Mark Pilgrim said on Twitter that he would much rather have the money from his TV licence that he has to pay to the SABC go towards actor's salaries, instead of the huge salary of the SABC's famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

On Tuesday 702 radio talk show host Redi Tlhabi said "basically there will be no soapie without these people."

"Why is it that a soapie star from another part of the world will become a multi-millionaire from their acting? Do we treat our actors with the same respect?"

"We've had stories of South African actors dying as paupers like Henry Cele [in Shaka Zulu, now being shown on SABC3 again]. We're told he died a very, very poor man. Are we in 2014 - what this is about?"

e.tv's Scandal! soap actress Florence Masebe said on Twitter that "It explains why black entertainers die paupers, because they have absolutely no cover, nor parity income".

SABC2's Muvhango drama queen Rami Chuene chimed in on Twitter: "The most popular show without the popular stars? The longest running show without the longest serving actors? The most income generating show without incoming generating actors?"

South Africa's minister of sport, Fikile Mbalula, also chimed in.

"You can't just dismiss people en masse when they demand more pay. This is super exploitation. We can't associate ourselves with exploitation. This can't be right. I can feel it in my blood. Somebody somewhere is getting away with murder. No ways. The Generations situation can't be okay."

"Lets speak out and put a stop to this. Those who say actors are not vulnerable, they don't know the industry. It's for this very reason that they can't be dismissed like this," said Fikile Mbalula on Twitter.

TV and radio presenter Zuraida Jardine said on Twitter that South Africa's actors need to be paid their worth and be treated well. "It's time. Fair is Fair! Networks need to start celebrating actors too".

"The most popular show without the popular stars? asked actress and presenter Faye Peters.

"I wonder if a mine boss or a corporate CEO spoke about workers like Mfundi Vundla or the SABC do about actors on Generations," remarked radio host Gareth Cliff on Twitter.

REACTION OVER FIRED GENERATION CAST: 'Obscene abuse' of power and a 'devastating impact on SABC viewers' says MWASA.

The Media Workers Association of South Africa (MWASA) calls the wholesale firing of the Generations cast on SABC1 today an "obscene abuse" of corporate power and says that it will have a "devastating adverse impact on viewers" - urging the Generations actors, the SABC and MMSV Productions to set aside the shocking massive firing of the cast and to talk it out around the negotiating table.

MWASA says that the mass dismissal of the actors on the SABC's most watched TV show which it calls an "irrational decision" is creating "collateral damage on both sides" and will be extremely negative for the millions of viewers watching the primetime SABC1 soap in South Africa and in other countries.

MWASA says South Africa's creative workers "generate billions of rand for a super-exploitative industry that spits everybody out as soon as the spotlight dims".

"This history of our exploitative creative sector is littered with casualties and victims of the slave-and-master contract system that creates selfish millionaires on one hand and paupers and beggars on the other".

"It seems the preferred approach of the current leadership of the SABC and MMSV Productions is that getting rid of workers amounts to a sustainable solution to the endemic problems regarding contractual relations between the SABC, production companies and workers," says MWASA.

"It is obscene abuse of corporate power and managerial privilege. Contracts must remain negotiable within reason and in pursuit of the common good".

MWASA says "we fully support the struggle for improved working conditions, for competitive remuneration, for the consideration of fair compensation regarding royalties, rebroadcasts, sales and syndication".

"The actors, the SABC and MMSV Productions should urgently consider setting aside the Generations actors' dismissal and work on returning to the negotiating table. A fascilitated process would yield better results".

REACTION OVER FIRED GENERATIONS CAST: 'Devastating that SABC's Generations crisis escalated to this point' - SOS Coalition

You're reading it here first.

The civil society pressure group for public broadcasting, SOS Coalition calls the wholesale firing of the Generations cast on SABC1 today "devastating" and is asking why the SABC is not doing more to build and retain local  TV talent.

TV with Thinus asked the SOS Coalition for its reaction and comment on the shocking, massive firing of the Generations cast which is reverberating through the South African TV industry.

"We think it is devastating that the SABC's Generations crisis has escalated to this point. Generations is such an important local production," says the SOS Coalition.

"The SABC should be working with production houses to ensure fair working conditions. It is in the interest of the SABC to build a local production industry that builds and retains local talent. What is the SABC doing to ensure this?" asks the SOS Coalition.

The Generations cast was fired today following a second strike the united actors embarked on since Monday.

It was their second strike in 10 months at the soap over exactly the same issues of wanting three year contracts from the SABC as it was promised in 2013, better paying contracts, as well as back payment for rebroadcasts and international sales of the show  - all issues that the SABC promised to give attention but failed to do.

Dismissive Generations exec producer Mfundi Vundla after firing cast: 'That we've gotten rid of these people doesn't mean it's the demise of the series'.

"There were other actors before and there will be other actors in the future. Generations will go on," says Mfundi Vundla, executive producer of Generations after MMSV Productions and the SABC fired the Generations cast today.

Mfundi Vundla who last year - during the first strike of Generations actors threatened the soap stars that "nobody is bigger than Generations" went on Radio 702 after firing the actors today and said "That’s it! Finish and klaar. It's a termination, it's finished".

"We won't be taking them back. We are running a business here and there has to be some resolve. We have to bring some certainty to the production. It's final. This is the final decision we've made."

The Generations cast went on strike on Monday, for the same unresolved reasons as 10 months ago in October 2013, saying little to nothing has been done about the promised three year contracts, better contracts and back payments for rebroadcasts and international sales of Generations.

"We have plans to continue with Generations," said Mfundi Vundla. "The actors found Generations and there will still be a Generations in the future for more new actors. Generations will go on, with or without these people. The fact that we've gotten rid of these people doesn't mean it's the demise of the series".

Generations will however run out of episodes at the end of September when a sudden drastic on-air change awaits.

"We have episodes up until about October. So we have a few weeks to look for a new cast, we will do what we have to do," said Mfundi Vundla. "We are professionals and we will do what we have to do to ensure Generations will go on".

In November 2013 the SABC's famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng who personally intervened during the first walk-off of the Generations cast, and declared then that "the matter has finally been laid to rest".