SABC2's Muvhango the next South African primetime series to abruptly shutter because of possible Covid-19 contact.

by Thinus Ferreira

Muvhango has become South Africa's latest primetime TV series to abruptly halt production after a crew member was exposed to someone who has the Covid-19 coronavirus.

South Africa's film and TV industry has shed thousands of jobs and struggled to restart production under stringent on-set health protocols since the entire industry was shut down for 8 weeks since late March 2020 because of the country's Covid-19 national lockdown period.

Just after local TV productions resumed work, first M-Net's The River produced by Tshedza Pictures for 1Magic (DStv 103), and then Skeem Saam produced by SABC1 was forced to shut down the past few weeks because of Covid-19 cases.

Now the SABC's Venda-drama series on SABC2 produced by Word of Mouth shut down production on Wednesday until further notice.

Herbert Hadebe, Muvhango's series producer, says that similar to The River and Skeem Saam, both produced in Johannesburg, production was halted to reduce the risk of exposure to Covid-19 on set. 

"We are prioritizing the safety of all staff members. We will be constantly monitoring the evolving situation and adapting our efforts and responses. We will continue working together with the SABC as we comply to Covid-19 measures and regulations," says Herbert Hadebe.

The Muvhango cast and crew have been asked to self-isolate until further notice and a deep-clean with the help of the SABC is going to take place at the studio.

Muvhango will continue uninterrupted on SABC2 with enough pre-recorded episodes for the time being.


ALSO READ: SABC1's Skeem Saam shuts down because of Covid-19 infection fears, crew and cast go into self-isolation as studio and offices are disinfected.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Production on The River telenovela for M-Net's 1Magic on DStv shutters after colleague tests positive for Covid-19, Tshedza Pictures locks studio doors for decontamination and will not do interviews.

e.tv commissions Isipho as a new local series from HerbVision, supernatural drama will serve as lead-in to Rhythm City.

Production has started on a Gauteng farm of a new e.tv local drama series, Isipho, that is filmed on location in Muldersdrift and that will start on the channel on Monday 1 July at 18:30 taking on SABC1's popular Skeem Saam in the same timeslot.

Isipho, telling a supernatural story, will have four episodes per week from Mondays to Thursdays, and is produced by Herbert Hadebe's HerbVision Multimedia in association with The Ntintili Factory.

Producing Isipho is also a leap of faith for e.tv - HerbVision is the smallest, yet very experienced, independent production company the channel has ever commissioned a prime time series, helping to open up South Africa's TV and film industry.

The channel usually works with strong and renowned local production companies which have always been safe for e.tv, but with Isipho the channel is taking a big leap - and risk - to bring new talent to TV on-screen and behind-the-scenes.

The new series with 208 episodes revolves around a father, Moses Shezi (Nimrod Nkosi), a former academic whose peaceful life takes an unexpected turn when he experiences a telling vision that reveals his daughter’s death.

Desperate to change the course of destiny, he sets out to find the four strangers who appeared in his vision and surrounding his daughter at the time of her death and from his vision, it is clear that these strangers are not in any way ordinary: They have gifts.

Following his vision, Moses together with his psychologist wife and a team of teachers in the spiritual arts, opening an academy for the gifted.

The students all come with baggage of their own and soon after that, Moses and the teachers discover that they not only have to teach the students to harness and control their gifts, but also guide them to be the best versions of themselves.

Isipho's cast includes Thobani Nzuza as Lwandle, Saint Seseli as Pastor Rametsi, Sparky Xulu as Mpendulo, Wandi Chamane as Nomzingeli, Karabo Maseko as Neo, and newcomers Precious Ngidi as Ntombi Shezi and Mbalenhle Mavimbela as Tandzile. Themsie Times portrays Gogo Nqobile.

"e.tv is happy to open up its pool of production companies with HerbVision and the Ntintili Factory producing  their first independent production for the channel," says Ziyanda Mngomezulu, e.tv's head of local content. "We look forward to welcoming back some familiar faces to our screens and introducing new ones."

Asked why Isipho has been scheduled for 18:30, Ziyanda Mngomezulu says "we created the series as a lead-in for Rhythm City".

"Rhythm City hands over audiences to Scandal! So we needed something to kick off prime time viewing before Rhythm City. So Isipho will bring viewers and hand them over to Rhythm City. So hopefully with this, we will see a bump in ratings for Rhythm City and a bump for Scandal!".

Urban Brew Studios promotes three: Herbert Hadebe, Adelaide Joshua-Hill and Joanne Lurie appointed to senior management positions.

Urban Brew Studios that belongs to Kagiso Media has promoted three staff members to senior management positions.

Herbert Hadebe has been appointed as the head of scripted productions, Adelaide Joshua-Hill is now the head of unscripted productions and Joanne Lurie is now the head of creative at Urban Brew Studios.

Herbert Hadebe has over 15 years of experience in the film and television industry and currently works on two drama series for Urban Brew Studios, Mzansi Magic's (DStv 161) Zabalaza and e.tv's Gold Diggers.

Adelaide Joshua-Hill started her career at Urban Brew seven years ago as an education consultant for SABC1's YOTV.  She then became head of YOTV mini and went on to head up the entire YOTV portfolio.

Adelaide Joshua-Hill's new role will include overseeing and managing production teams and providing leadership across all productions in the unscripted portfolio at Urban Brew Studios.

Joanne Lurie, who has been in the TV industry for 13 years, spent eight of her nine years at Urban Brew Studios producing 3Talk with Noeleen for SABC3. Before joining the company, she worked on international formats, including The Weakest Link, The Biggest Loser and Big Brother.