South Africa's actors guild says country's president chooses American studios and streamers and neglects local artists, unpaid crews and ignores copyright reforms

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) on Thursday slammed South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and said the country's president has chosen to be on the side of American studios, streamers and broadcasters while neglecting the plight of local South African artists, the alarming rise in unpaid crews, and ignored copyright reforms.

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his 2025 State of the Nation Address in South Africa on Thursday evening in parliament.

SAGA called out president Cyril Ramaphosa for what the organisation calls the neglect of South Africa's cultural and creative industries, unpaid crews and ignored copyright reforms, saying that the sector demands action.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa has never acknowledged the grievances of South Africa's cultural and creative industries," said SAGA.

"We have witnessed an alarming increase in incidents of non-payment of cast and technical crew, numerous reports of health and safety violations, criminal complaints of human trafficking, and deteriorating work conditions in an increasingly hostile production environment. But not a word from the president," the organisation noted.

"President Cyril Ramaphosa's stubborn defiance of the Constitutional Court order of September 2022 to amend parts of the Copyright Act of 1978 that violates the human rights of people with disabilities, is very revealing."

"In fact, South African creatives generally suspect that president Ramaphosa chose not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill specifically to give assurance to American studios, streamers, and broadcasters that their commercial interests in South African film and TV productions remain subject to their monopolies."

SAGA said "The president has worked hard at ignoring our sector, and now that the final decision on the Copyright Amendment Bill sits with the Constitutional Court, actors who are desperate for the statutory right to earn royalties, are only too pleased that our fate lies with a competent authority and not with a bewildered, indifferent, and indecisive president."

Actor Nicky Rebelo noted that "American, British, French, Italian actors all receive residuals or royalties when the work that they have done is repeated or sold to other channels".

"But I never receive any residuals or royalties. I don't think that's right. I think it's time that we in South Africa were treated like other actors around the world."

South African actors on the US strike: 'We're absolutely in this fight with our American counterparts'.

by Thinus Ferreira

Filming of at least one series of a video streaming service, done in Cape Town, has shut down following the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike in the United States with more overseas productions done in South Africa which will follow, while the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) says they stand united in the fight behind their American counterparts demanding better contracts and working conditions. 

American actors have joined writers, who have been striking for 80 days and counting, with three of Hollywood's big three labour unions that are now on strike.

It comes after SAG-AFTRA asked its 160 000 members to strike after the drawn-out negotiation period with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which represents Hollywood's biggest studios and video streaming services like Netflix, expired.

SAG-AFTRA demands structural changes and improvements to the residuals paid to actors by video streaming services - the money actors earn when their work is shown on streamers. SAG-AFTRA also wants regulations to be put in place around the utilisation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) when creating TV shows and films.

"SAGA stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA)," Jack Devnarain SAGA chairperson told TVwithThinus.

"We are very aware of the issues that they have raised during their negotiations with the streamers. We think that these are critical issues which are of global importance because even in South Africa we are confronted with the same issues."

"American actors are looking for better residual payments for their work on the streaming platforms and very importantly, they are also looking for protection from AI so that their work can't be replicated or co-opted by software programmes. These are some of the big issues that we are facing in South Africa as well," Jack Devnarain said.

"The big difference is that while in the United States those actors have the right to unionise and to engage in industrial action, in South Africa freelancers are not protected by the Labour Relations Act - in fact, we are specifically excluded. It means we may not form a union, or engage in union activities, or to engage in industrial action like going on strike".

"This is an important opportunity in terms of establishing an industry standard around the world," Jack Devnarain said.

"Because the US is such an important engine for creative industry growth and productivity, it means that the issues they are confronted with were always going to reach boiling point much faster than anywhere else in the world. Now we are there."

"The unions in the US have taken a bold and absolutely necessary stance to stop the abuse of performers and writers and to stand for some kind of protection and to guarantee the residuals that need to be paid to performers."

"Of course in South Africa, not only are we denied royalty payments, but we also have the streaming platforms that have come into South Africa and are shamelessly exploiting South African talent while claiming that their business model does not allow for any residual payments."

"We absolutely are in this fight with our American counterparts," Jack Devnarain said.

SA: There will be show suspensions

SAGA said it's knowledgeable of at least one show for a global streaming service that suspended production in South Africa last Friday which is one of the Cape Town-based shows.

Jack Devnarain said that "We are likely to see more of those, and those are necessary suspensions because they are using US talent. Yes, there will be suspensions, and as a result there may be work being diverted towards South African writers, possibly even South African actors."

"There is however no chance that any member of the South African Guild of Actors or the Writers Guild of South Africa would exploit any such opportunity to their benefit."

Netflix South Africa which has the most shows in production in the country of the global streamers on Friday didn't respond to a media query seeking comment about the shuttering of its local shows utilising American talent. 

Amazon Prime Video SA which has also started to commission and produce shows in South Africa like LOL: Last One Laughing South Africa which has comedian Trevor Noah as host, also didn't respond to a media query.  

SA: Battle for residuals continuing

According to Jack Devnarain the discussion around actor royalties in South Africa "is still very much on the table and following the parliamentary process".

"What we are looking at is the procedural delays that happen when you are engaged in that parliamentary process. Right now the bills are sitting with the National Council of Provinces and we are expecting that in July the provinces themselves will be making their representations on the changes that they have approved on the bills. We expect a final vote from the National Council of Provinces by September."

"With that timeline - in the course of that delay - we are very aware of a very strong lobbying effort that is being conducted by such organisations as the Commercial Producers Organisation of South Africa (CPA), the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO), Netflix and MultiChoice. These are some of the organisations lobbying very strongly against the bills."

South Africa's TV and film industry's 'darkest secret': Why the beloved actress icon Shaleen Surtie-Richards died poor - when she didn't have to.

by Thinus Ferreira

Despite the accolades over decades and portraying iconic, only-a-first-name-needed characters like Fiela and Nenna, Shaleen Surtie-Richards (66) died poor on Monday because she didn't have the money to go to hospital.

That makes the legendary Shaleen Surtie-Richards - hugely praised in death after her passing - yet another big South African star who didn't get the money while she lived that she deserved for her success due to long-stalled legislation that would ensure that South African artists get paid the residuals owed to them from the constant rebroadcasts of their work.

The ongoing failure of the South African government to enact legislation to ensure the payment of residuals to artists for the broadcast of repeats of their work is the "industry's darkest secret" says Jack Devnarain, actor and chairperson of the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA).

Actress Lizz Meiring, a management member of the Theatre Benevolent Fund that helps to support struggling industry workers, on Tuesday said that Shaleen Surtie-Richards "saw a doctor in Cape Town because she was so ill".

"He wanted to book her into a hospital immediately. She simply had no money. That's the horrible truth. If she had been paid her meagre royalties for all the rebroadcasts of her incredible body of work, she would have been able to".

Shaleen Surtie-Richards - who unexpectedly died in her sleep on Monday in a guest house in Edgemead, Cape Town whilst filming a role in the Penguin Films-produced Arendsvlei telenovela for kykNET - openly spoke the past few years about her financial struggles and how she went through a period where she wasn't even able to pay for electricity and couldn't even buy food.

In 2019 in a profile interview, Shaleen Surtie-Richards told the TV magazine show Kwêla on kykNET that "I've been sitting here without a cent to my name. My house was almost sold out from under me.  I've had nothing. I've thought I need to talk about this. Last year I had no work.  There just wasn't any work," she said.

"You get paid according to the productions you do.  I'm sitting here now with millions of prizes behind my name - things that now mean absolute nothing," she said.

Why SA artists die poor

"This is why our showbiz industry's people die poor, Lizz Meiring on Tuesday told TVwithThinus.

"In the rest of the world performers and industry workers are paid what is called residuals - royalties - in the way that a musician is paid royalties when their music is played. In the rest of the world the on-screen talent and crew, the writer and the producers - when a series is broadcast for the third time - they receive a third of their original fee."

"The bill - the Performers Protection Amendment Bill (PPAB) to amend current legislation to enable residual remuneration for artists has been passed by parliament - 4 years ago already, after 10 years of fighting for it. It was accepted, it's now 4 years later and our president refuses to sign it," says Lizz Meiring.

"Think of the massive amount of work that Shaleen Surtie-Richards had done in her lifetime? If someone's work - their films, series they've starred in - is rebroadcast for a third time, they get a third of the original fee that they've earned," she explains.

"The bill is through parliament - it just needs to be signed. It doesn't just affect someone like Shaleen Surtie-Richards. It affects hundreds of thousands of people."

"Everybody knows that someone like Elize Cawood who had cancer, despite having had a medical aid, had massive medical expenses. Think of how much work Elize Cawood did in her career? Can you imagine if she had just received a third of the original fees of all of the shows she's been in? Series and films are constantly being rebroadcast."

'All we're asking for is what is fair'

"We're not the only industry struggling - a lot of people are going through extremely difficult times, for instance the hospitality sector and many others. I would like people to understand that our career is a professionally qualified, respected industry," says Lizz Meiring.

"When tickets are being sold and it's something that you want to watch, please go buy a ticket and go and see it. We're not beggars - we're not asking money for nothing. We're giving something in return. Read South African writers' books. Go watch South African films. Follow South African TV series. Go to theatre performances and understand that it's wrong to pirate content," she says.

"It would be a great thing when viewers start to ask and to tell TV channels, 'Hey, wait a minute - are you paying residuals to these people?' It's not that artists are a useless bunch of people who can't look after themselves. All we're asking is what is fair. That's all."

About Shaleen Surtie-Richards, Lizz Meiring says "she called me 'sussie' (sister). I've known her for 37 years."

"Shaleen didn't just have the talent and the heart and the honesty and such compassion for colleagues in this industry - Shaleen had that X-factor - that star quality."

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards’ funeral: 'An icon beloved by the people but abandoned by the system,' says friend Rif'at Browers; implores arts minister Nathi Mthethwa to launch a fund to support South Africa's suffering artists.

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards on her money struggles in last TV interview: 'I just pray very hard that I won't get ill'.

ALSO READ: kykNET’s Saturday edition of Ontbytsake will be a special tribute to Shaleen Surtie-Richards: 'We tried not to cry,' says presenter Eloise Cupido.

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards as Arendsvlei’s Muriel: Return-story got fully filmed and wrapped last week with character that will be on screen again on kykNET & Kie from September.

ALSO READ: Producer Diana Lucas on Shaleen Surtie-Richards’ final time on film in new bio doc: 'An intimate talk with a woman who was an amazing person.' 

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie Richards: I Am Who I Am documentary scheduled for Wednesday night on M-Net as MultiChoice's TV tribute collection of content expands after iconic actress' death - latest programming listing across channels.

ALSO READ: Fiela se Kind film director Katina Heyns on Shaleen Surtie-Richards: 'She had all of us laughing the one moment, and weeping the next.' 

ALSO READ: Shaleen Surtie-Richards' family on her death and legacy of love: She not only lived in our hearts but in the hearts of this great nation.

ALSO READ: Actress Shaleen-Surtie Richards found dead in a Cape Town guest house. She was 66.

SABC, 'limping from day to day', owes artists millions of rand in unpaid royalties; blames its financial crisis for its failure to pay.

The SABC owes singers and musicians millions of rand in unpaid royalties and more millions in residuals to actors, with the struggling public broadcaster on the brink of financial collapse, blaming its severe money woes for its failure to pay.

The SABC on Wednesday told parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that the SABC "is behind with royalty payments" and owes artists at least R75.4 million.

The SABC owes the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (Samro) R14.5 million, the SA Music Performance Rights Association (Sampra) R52.7 million, the Association of Independent Record Companies (ARIC) R2.8 million, the Composers Authors and Publishers Association (Capasso) R3 million and the Recording Industry of South Africa (Risa) R2.4 million.

The SABC didn't provide any numbers for the outstanding millions it owes actors and writers for residuals for the rebroadcasts and repeats of TV shows like Sgudi 'Snaysi on SABC1 and the library shows broadcast on its SABC Encore channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.

The SABC told parliament that the last time it paid any royalties to artists was in December 2016 but didn't specify an amount, and blames the public broadcaster's cash-strapped status.

The SABC also failed to pay all artists, winners and contributors for the 2017 Metro FM Awards held months ago.

Bessie Tugwana, acting COO, blamed the SABC's non-payment of artists on a "struggle to get verified documentation so we could pay" and the SABC's "cash-flow problem". She told parliament that everyone will be paid at the end of May.

A year ago, in May 2016, SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago announced that the SABC will immediately increase the royalty tariff paid to artists for music content played on the SABC's 18 radio stations and TV channels from 3.2% to 4% - but nothing came of that, with the SABC unable to even pay the 3.2%.

The SABC referring to its situation as "dire" and saying it's "limping from day to day", told parliament on Wednesday that the "90% local content" decree for local music airplay on radio and "80% local content" on SABC TV ordered by the former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng has destroyed the public broadcaster and is threatening the very existence of the SABC that doesn't have the money to pay for it.

New SABC interim deputy chairperson Mathatha Tshedu revealed that the SABC blew an additional R72 million on new local content to replace other local content no longer deemed suitable, for the 90% local content policy.

"We are looking at taking back detrimental consequences of some decisions. We are looking at the 90% which saw both the television and radio losing millions. It's implementation has to take cognisance of the fact that it mustn't threaten the existence of the SABC itself, which is what it is doing."

The SABC revealed that it wasted another R74 million in TV content it bought but never showed, marked as fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

The SABC, now struggling to pay staff and producers, further spent hundreds of millions of rand on irregular content buying, for instance R63 million in 2016/17 and R240 million in 2015/16.

Already owing them millions of rand in outstanding payments, last week the SABC told South African producers going forward that it only wants to pay them 25% monthly of the money they're due although they're expected to keep delivering 100% of the content the SABC requires to keep its TV channels on the air.

Communications minister Ayanda Dlodlo told parliament that "the dire state of the SABC wasn't brought to us voluntarily by executives. We had to dig".

Ayanda Dlodlo said the SABC's initial bailout request to treasury was inadequate. "It was like putting an Elastoplast on a wound instead of treating the wound".

After getting a bailout in the form of a R1.47 billion government-guaranteed Nedbank loan in 2009 during its previous bailout when the SABC teetered on the brink of collapse eight years ago, it's not yet known what amount in another government-guaranteed loan the SABC is seeking this time in its next bailout.