BREAKING. Confusion, uncertainty of whether the Royalty Soapie Awards will actually be broadcast on SABC1 on Sunday.

There is ongoing uncertainty and confusion regarding whether the Royalty Soapie Awards will be televised on South African TV or not. While the organisers are adamant that the awards show will go ahead and be shown on television, the SABC says there is no contract and that it will not.

After multiple delays, e.tv's soaps being pulled from consideration, zero information regarding who the judges are and backstage drama between the organizers which saw venture partner Lala Tuku back out, the Royalty Soapie Awards was moved from its November 2013 date to March 2014 at the Durban International Convention Centre.

The Royalty Soapie Awards organised by Winnie Modise is finally set to take place on Saturday 8 March in the same city as this past Saturday's 13th Metro FM Awards which was shown on SABC1 on Saturday as a live broadcast and which suffered from terrible production values.

The Royalty Soapie Awards takes place on exactly the same date and time as M-Net and MultiChoice's continental 2nd AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Awards.

According to the organisers the Royalty Soapie Awards with hosts Michael Mol and Hlomla Dandala, will be shown on SABC1 a day later on Sunday 9 March at 20:30.

SABC1 says it will not broadcast the Royalty Soapie Awards and has the movie Lake City scheduled.

With three days to the actual event and four days to the would-be broadcast date, the SABC on Wednesday told TV with Thinus that "we are waiting for the agreement to be finalised between the SABC and the organisers". The SABC said that a statement will only be made "once the agreement is in place".

A spokesperson for the Royalty Soapie Awards organisers told TV with Thinus that they however have confirmation from the SABC that the Royalty Soapie Awards will be shown on SABC1 on Sunday at 20:30.

Sindile Xulu, Royalty Soapie Awards project director says the organisers are "thrilled to have the awards show broadcast made accessible to the widest possible audience" on SABC1.

Michael Mol, Hlomla Dandala named as hosts for the Royalty Soapie Awards now set for 8 March 2014.

Michael Mol and Hlomla Dandala will be the hosts of the Royalty Soapie Awards which has now been moved to the new date of 8 March 2014 at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban.

The Royalty Soapie Awards will likely be broadcast on SABC1 but it's not yet clear whether it will be a live broadcast or be shown at a later date.

The Royalty Soapie Awards - not representative of South African TV soap opera industry since broadcasters such as M-Net and e.tv are not allowing some of their soaps to be voted for - caught flack from the TV industry for the way it's organised, for judges being kept secret, and broadcasters saying they don't know and have not been told how the judging works.

The list of soaps in the category for Most Popular Soap which viewers vote for, excludes certain TV soap which makes it a hollow, credibility-less victory for whichever soap wins.

The new awards show production has also already seen its fair share of drama behind the scenes.

"We will focus our energies on producing a top-class event that reflects the excellence of the work done by South Africa's burgeoning television soap industry," says Sindile Xulu, the Royalty Soapie Awards project director "As a team we are relieved to have a firm date".

Royalty Soapie Awards: 'It's a pity that e.tv did not allow their soaps to enter'; 'judges only revealed at the winners' announcement ceremony'.

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The Royalty Soapie Awards, the new upstart South African awards ceremony looking to bestow statuettes on South Africa's TV soap stars and those working behind the scenes cranking out these weekday sudsers, tells TV with Thinus that "it's a pity that e.tv did not allow their soap productions to enter".

It comes after e.tv decided to pull both its local South African soaps Rhythm City and Scandal! from The Royalty Soap Awards, instantly nullifying the perceived credibility within the South African TV industry of the new awards ceremony organised by Generations actress Winnie Modise.

ALSO READ: e.tv on pulling its soaps from the Royalty Soapie Awards: "To be blunt: They think they can just put up an event and use our brands'.

With 20 categories, and viewers' votes deciding "Most Popular Soapie of the Year", it means a hollow victory for the winner since viewers who might have wanted to vote for Rhythm City or Scandal! won't be able to do so.

With major questions around who judged the various categories and who the judges are since the organisers have refused to release any names, the Royalty Soapie Awards says the judges will only be revealed at the winners' announcement ceremony set for 2 November in Durban.

"It's a pity that e.tv did not allow their soap productions to enter. However we do respect their decision, as all roleplayers have the prerogative to participate or not," Sindile Zulu, Royalty Soapie Awards project director tells TV with Thinus.

Asked for a list of the judges, Sindile Zulu says "the names of the judges will only be revealed at the winners' announcement ceremony. This is done to ensure that there is no interference from any quarter and that the integrity of the entire process is protected. This applies to many similar awards locally and abroad."

"The judges are from a broad spectrum of people in the arts. They are experts in the TV production industry, photographers, actors, TV and radio personalities and entertainment media."

Asked how the Royalty Soapie Awards can see itself as representative of South Africa's TV soap industry if not all soaps on South African television are taking part, Sindile Zulu says "it has always been the intention of the Royalty Soapie Awards to be inclusive of the industry as a whole".

"Industry support for these awards has been extremely positive with all broadcasters bar one submitting entries. Over 100 entries have been received from 10 of South Africa's 12 soap productions. This represents over 80% of the industry."

"e.tv's decision is unfortunate, however we aim to build the confidence of the broadcaster so that all South African soaps will participate moving forward," says Sindile Zulu.

According to Sindile Zulu the Royalty Soapie Awards established a representative steering committee made up of specialists from TV broadcasting stations and non-conflicting production houses, "those who had no soapies to enter". "A representative executive producer from e.tv was a part of the original team".

Sindile Zulu says the Royalty Soapie Awards was "notified of e.tv's decision not to participate through the Rhythm City and Scandal! production teams. They were in the final process of submitting their entries when they were informed of the decision not to participate."

"We managed to secure a meeting with Monde Twala, e.tv's group head of channels, a week or two later to understand their position."

"He indicated that it is the broadcaster's intention to protect the brands that they have built and that he felt that e.tv had not received sufficient information to warrant participation in these awards. He indicated that their non-participation was based mostly on their lack of confidence in the entry and adjudication processes of award ceremonies in general, which he was not convinced were fair," says Sindile Zulu.

"As a new awards ceremony our priority is to grow," says Sindile Zulu. "We value the input of the industry into making the Royalty Soapie Awards trusted, supported and loved by all.Our intention is to convene a steering committee each year to better our criteria and to ensure that we are fully representative."

"We will continue to engage e.tv to hear the broadcaster's concerns and hopefully secure its future participation."