How Netflix warmed to the Joburg Film Festival and affirmed city's 'vital role' in growing South Africa's film biz

by Thinus Ferreira

Netflix South Africa has finally warmed to the Joburg Film Festival with the 7th edition that took place in Sandton and that included a panel discussion session, as well as a swanky rooftop Friday night event where Netflix and festival organisers promised even greater collaboration next year and into the future.

Over the past few years, Netflix SA has been reticent to have a full-show presence at the Joburg Film Festival since MultiChoice is the main sponsor and has its own streaming service Showmax which is a rival to Netflix, and while some Netflix Originals have featured in the screening line-up previously, filmmakers have until now been reluctant to tout their projects during it.

One South African filmmaker told TVwithThinus last year during the 6th festival that she couldn't really talk about her upcoming Netflix film, to adhere to what she was told by Netflix, noting that the streamer "doesn't want to appear MultiChoice-adjacent during the festival". 

Now there's clearly been a thaw of sorts, with MultiChoice, Netflix and the Joburg Film Festival all coming to a realisation that greater cooperation is needed from all - even fierce rivals - if South Africa's struggling film biz is to be moved forward, and which filmmakers described as being "in a dire situation".   

On the festival's Friday afternoon, Netflix headlined its first-ever panel session at the film festival.

The all-female panel at the JBX Talks discussion circuit, which ran concurrently with the film festival, was called "Redefining roles for women" with Connie Ferguson, Gail Mabalane, Dawn Thandeka King and Nina Swart on stage.

The foursome talked about woman empowerment before and behind the camera and shared personal anecdotes from their career climbs in the industry over the past few decades.

This was followed that Friday evening by a glitzy, invitation-only "Netflix in Gold" VIP party as another Netflix SA first for the 7th Joburg Film Festival.

Here, on the Artistry-rooftop, bathed in red and gold, Netflix execs, some of the country's most high-profile showrunners and producers, directors, agents, actors, writers, industry reps and festival guests all mingled, sipped champagne and did shop-talk.

Timothy Mangwedi, Joburg Film Festival founder and executive director, said "we've been trying to build this festival brand, and the content as an important platform for filmmakers".

He thanked Netflix for coming onboard in a bigger way at the 7th JFF and said the festival is looking forward to even bigger inclusion and collaboration with the streamer from next year.

"We're a premier film festival, so the relationship is how do we work together and add and showcase new directors, new actors, actresses, new producers, but also importantly how do we bring technology into this wonderful industry."

Ben Amadasun, Netflix vice-president of content for the Middle East and Africa, called his local content execs to stage, which included Kaye-Ann Williams who made her public debut as a Netflix exec following her appointment since February.

As director of scripted content for Netflix Africa, Kaye-Ann Williams will now oversee the video streaming service's scripted films and series in sub-Saharan Africa.

"This is our first participation at the Joburg Film Festival as Team Netflix so we're happy that you could make it to this great event and I'm sure we'll be here for many more versions of this in the future," Ben Amadasun said.

"Johannesburg plays a vital role in the growth of our industry, so it makes sense for Netflix to be part of this festival going forward," he said.

He noted the various Jozi-set scripted series and films already on the streamer like Number, Number: Jozi Gold, Soweto Love Story, Seriously Single and Kings of Jo'Burg that helped bring Johannesburg and Gauteng to a global Netflix audience.

There is also the school-athlete drama GO! from Ten30 Films and produced by Kutlwano Ditsele and Thuli Zuma also set in Johannesburg and starring Thandolwethu Zondi, Wonder Ndlovu, Dawn Thandeka King and Vusi Kunene.

"We've seen first-hand the power of African stories - not just on the continent but across the world. The global audience is very hungry for authentic, bold, fresh stories from Africa."

"Our approach is very simple as Netflix - we want to make sure that we collaborate with the most amazing local creators and continue to expand the frontier of what's possible in storytelling". 

Ben Amadasun noted that Tuiskoms, produced by Infinity Films with Louis Pretorius and Albert Snyman as Netflix's second Afrikaans drama series, "is one of many more I hope - this title is really delivering for us. We're very excited about how our audiences are receiving Tuiskoms".

'Final farewell' planned for SABC2's cancelled Muvhango after failed one-year reprieve

by Thinus Ferreira

A "final farewell" is planned for the South African public broadcaster's cancelled Muvhango, which the SABC hasn't renewed after it gave the show a reprieve last year as part of a last-ditch new one-year contract.

The SABC effectively cancelled Muvhango in 2024, after production on the long-running Word of Mouth Pictures-produced series from creator Duma Ndlovu stopped after the existing contract for a much shorter half-season only, finally ran out.

The long-running show, responsible for propping up what remains of SABC2's original programming line-up was cancelled after it shuttered production on 25 June last year after completing a shortened 130-episode season.

The SABC then restarted negotiations with Word of Mouth Pictures and signed a deal for another one-year contract but done cheaper and with creative changes ordered and agreed. 

These included story and character changes, including adding Xitsonga-speaking actors. 

Muvhango, that turned 28 years old on 7 April with a crew and cast of around 175 people, got an full-season order of 260 episodes for a 26th season.

The show lurched back into production but a hastily-arranged media launch event failed to translate into traction, a promised new starting date got pushed out, a promised new opening sequence and show logo failed to materialise immediately, and Muvhango's SABC2 ratings also failed to improve.

A few months later, Muvhango production once again had to shut down over non-payment to writers, cast and crew - something that had afflicted Muvhango numerous times over the past two decades - and Muvhango background actors are also demanding payment they haven't received yet from Nonkululeko Ndlovu's  Turning Heads Casting Agency.

Now the SABC plans to replace Muvhango in the 21:30 weekday timeslot on SABC2 with something called Pimville Queens produced by Bakwena Productions, notorious for payment problems to cast and crew of Paramount Africa's Pound 4 Pound drama series that was on BET (DStv 129).

Instead of keeping ratings steady as SABC2's most-watched show, the relaunched Muvhango slid further in viewership and by the end of 2024 had lost close to 60% of its entire audience which it had started the year with, despite the reset and introduced on-screen changes.

Muvhango, far off from the over 4 million viewers it lured in its heyday to prime time, fell in 2024 from a high of 1.6 million viewers to under 923 000 by the end of last year. 

When it returned in August, it only kept bleeding viewers, sliding from 1.32 million in July to just 1.084 million later in August when it returned for a new season, and continuing its viewer erosion to under a million viewers nightly in the months after that.

Lala Tuku, the SABC's head of video entertainment, last year noted that the SABC had reservations and "challenges" around its decision to bring back Muvhango.

She said that the Muvhango contract ran out in what essentially became the show's de facto cancellation.

Money and dwindling ratings for what the SABC pays and gets in return was the big issue that caused "a tussle" in the negotiations around bringing Muvhango back in 2024. The SABC remains technically insolvent.

According to Lala Tuku, expensive shows - including Muvhango - need to perform ratings-wise to bring in advertising revenue or risk being replaced, which is what happened with SABC2's cancelled 7de Laan.

"The reality is that the SABC derives its revenue from advertising. We require audiences to choose to watch our content. The reality is we have brilliant content on our platform and we need our audiences to select it and come in," she said in July last year about Muvhango.

Yeshica Naidoo, series producer, now reportedly said Word of Mouth Pictures are still waiting to hear from the SABC on whether it will be commissioned for a further season.

"We are waiting for confirmation from the SABC about a way forward, so at this moment we just wait and see what is going to happen to the show."

In April, when the SABC was asked about Muvhango finally getting axed and replaced with Pimville Queens, Mmoni Ngubane, SABC spokesperson, said "The SABC can confirm that only one season of Muvhango is currently contracted, and the current contract is set to end on 31 July".

"The SABC cannot comment on the future of the programming at this stage".

Muvhango was the South African public broadcaster's first Tshivenda language drama, which started in April 1997 with one episode per week, after which Muvhango over time expanded to become a 5-day-per-week soap.

Also negatively impacting the soap's possible continuation is tax evasion charges totalling R25 million hanging over Muvhango creator and producer Duma Ndlovu who appeared in court in October 2024.

Besides Muvhango, he also produced Queen Modjadji through his Rhythm World Productions banner for MultiChoice and M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel on DStv, as well as the now-cancelled Umkhokha, also for Mzansi Magic where the cast and crew also struggled to get paid.

The Umkhokha cast and crew who were not paid at the end of October last year and just told there was "a cash-flow problem". They only got paid after MultiChoice then intervened.

Answers sought over SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli's R15 million office budget for 'innovation' and research projects

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African parliament's standing committee on public accounts (SCOPA) wants answers from the struggling South African public broadcaster on what its SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli wants to do with R15 million earmarked for innovation and research "initiatives" from the CEO's office.

The SABC's top executives and SABC board appeared before SCOPA, where it came to light that the technically insolvent SABC has budgeted R15 million for the SABC CEO's office to be used for "strategic initiatives".

Nomsa Chabeli told SCOPA that the R15 million is to be allocated to innovation and research projects but didn't provide any details about the specifics of what type of "innovation" and what research this would entail, or by whom.

"It is not at the CEO's discretion and goes through governance processes. In fact, I am the last person to sign off," is all Nomsa Chabeli said about the R15 million allocation to the SABC CEO's office.

Khathutshelo Ramukumba, SABC chairperson, also failed to explain what exactly the R15 million for the SABC CEO's office would be used for.

"What I can say is that the spending of any budgets across the SABC, including the CEO's office, is subject to the SABC's policies and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The board exercises oversight over all expenditures."

Tsholofelo Katlego Bodlani, a member of parliament (MP) of the Democratic Alliance (DA) political party, asked Nomsa Chabeli about the R15 million earmarked for the SABC CEO's office.

"There is also R15-million that is going to be allocated for strategic initiatives in the CEO's office. I want to know what sort of initiatives these are. What has been the benefit of similar allocations in the past? What oversight is in place to ensure there is significant value from that lump sum sitting in the CEO's office," Tsholofelo Bodlani asked.

"What oversight is in place to ensure there is significant value from that lump sum sitting in the CEO's office? The SABC remains technically insolvent. We should be doing everything we can to support the SABC so that it can meet its mandate."

According to Colleen Makhubele, an MP from the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) political party, "There is no budget to begin with" and "In fact, the Auditor-General's report should be the starting point. It highlighted serious concerns".

"The question we ought to be asking is: Can the SABC survive on its own and fulfil its mandate? The answer is no, and the Auditor-General  (AG) has made that clear. This is despite the beautiful plans you've presented".

"If you don't have enough money to cover your expenses, your liquidity and solvency are at risk. The SABC should be telling us how it plans to cover the R1.9 billion shortfall that is glaringly obvious."

MultiChoice cleaner in Eswatini stabbed by fellow staffer in brutal knife attack

by Thinus Ferreira

Nothando Nxumalo, a cleaner at MultiChoice Eswatini's branch in Manzini, Eswatini was stabbed in a brutal knife attack by a colleague last Monday and is now in hospital with serious injuries.

According to the Eswatini Observer, a 27-year-old staffer from MultiChoice Manzini allegedly attacked Nothando Nxumalo this past Monday inside the building.

Nothando Nxumalo asked Tebenguni Nxumalo why the woman hadn't cleaned up a mess that she had made a few minutes earlier which angered Tebenguni.

An enraged Tebenguni Nxumalo then allegedly grabbed a knife and attacked Nothando Nxumalo who was brutally stabbed several times and then taken to hospital where she is currently in a stable condition but with serious injuries.

MultiChoice staffers in Manzini have been severely traumatised.

Tebenguni Nxumalo was arrested and appeared in court this past Wednesday, and was granted bail. Tebenguni Nxumalo has to appear in court again on 21 May.

MultiChoice busts import of 5 000 fake 'Dtv' chargers and power supply units at Durban harbour

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice, together with the South African Police and customs authorities, seized 5 000 fake "Dtv" chargers and power supply units that Uni Li Cell tried to import to South Africa through the Durban harbour.

On 3 June the police intercepted a shipment of 5 000 counterfeit chargers and power supply units falsely branded as "Dtv" to make them look compatible with DStv decoders.

According to MultiChoice, Uni Li Cell has "signed a formal undertaking in settlement of the civil case, agreeing to the delivery of all the infringing goods" and "a cost contribution of R40 000 has also been paid as part of the settlement".

The fake goods were destroyed and crushed manually with hammers to extract recyclable components.

MultiChoice says cables were stripped to recover copper wiring, and all cardboard packaging was collected for recycling by authorised agents. The process was carefully documented and overseen to ensure compliance with legal and environmental standards.

"This case is part of a broader enforcement effort that recently saw border police detain a further 30 600 counterfeit universal chargers bearing marks identical or confusingly similar to DStv trademarks."

According to the pay-TV operator, "In alignment with new procedures adopted by police, the Commercial Crime Unit (CCU), and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), all such detentions are now submitted for criminal prosecution, reflecting a stronger national stance against counterfeit trade".

Frikkie Jonker, Irdeto director of broadcast and cybersecurity, says "This is a significant victory in our ongoing efforts to combat the trade in counterfeit goods".

"We commend the border police, Commercial Crime Unit, and our legal partners for their collaboration and dedication in protecting South African consumers and our brand."

Former MultiChoice Nigeria general manager Chris Anaelechi Obasi abducted in traditional kingship fight

by Thinus Ferreira

Nigerian news media reports that Chris Anaelechi Obasi, a former MultiChoice Nigeria general manager, has been abducted from his home on an ongoing kingship fight in the West African country.

Chris Anaelechi Obasi, now the managing director of Zeta-Web, is a former general manager of information technology and facilities at MultiChoice Nigeria.

He was reportedly abducted on Wednesday night, 14 May, from his home in the Graceland Estate in Ajah, Lagos, by unidentified men linked to the Tiger Base unit in Owerri in the Imo State.

His abduction took place two days before a court hearing over a traditional kingship fight in the Eziama Ikeduru Autonomous Community, where Obasi is seen as the "rightful heir".

After the death of his father, Obasi as the only son, is seen as the legitimate successor but rival factions want someone else as ruler.

Netflix South Africa increases prices by up to 20% for subscribers

by Thinus Ferreira

Netflix South Africa is increasing prices of the streaming service for its South African subscribers with immediate effect by up to 20%, although its R99 per month subscription plan will remain unchanged.

Netflix issued no press statement before the price hike went into effect but in response to a media query from TVwithThinus, confirms that it is increasing subscription prices in South Africa.

Rival MultiChoice just did its annual price increase for DStv subscribers and its Showmax video streaming service from April 2025.

Netflix South Africa in response to the media query, confirms that "Netflix has increased prices in South Africa for both new and existing subscribers".

This is the second price increase for Netflix SA subscribers since the video streaming launched in South Africa and across the African continent in 2016. 

Netflix SA last increased prices in September 2021 which was its first price increase in South Africa since it launched.

Netflix says that "The new prices came into effect on 8 May for new members. For existing members, the exact timing of the change will depend on the specific member's billing cycle".

Asked why Netflix is increasing prices for its South African subscribers, the company told me that "As we continue to invest in programming and deliver more value for our members, we will sometimes ask our members to pay more so that we can reinvest to further improve Netflix".

The price changes are as follows for South Africa:

 

Mobile	Basic	Standard	Premium
R49 → R59	R99 (no change)	R159 → R179	R199 → R229

 

Interesting to note is that Netflix is keeping the subscription fee of its Basic package unchanged at R99 per month.

Netflix is increasing its Mobile subscription by a whopping 20% from R49 to R59 per month, while the Standard fee is increased by 13% from R159 to R179 per month. The Premium subscription price is increased 15% from R199 to R229 per month.

All of Netflix SA's price hikes are far above the current South African inflation rate.

SABC silent on Muvhango background actors allegedly unpaid by Nonkululeko Ndlovu's Turning Heads Casting Agency

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African public broadcaster is silent on workers of its SABC2 Venda weekday soap Muvhango again allegedly not being paid - this time, various background actors who say they were booked and appeared on the show through Turning Heads Casting Agency.

The troubled show that has not been renewed for another season and is produced by the embattled Duma Ndlovu's Word of Mouth Pictures, has a very long history of not paying cast and crew, and paying late.

The Turning Heads Casting Agency is owned by Nonkululeko Ndlovu, the daughter of Duma Ndlovu. Turning Heads Casting Agency couldn't be reached for comment. 

The SABC didn't respond to a media query TVwithThinus made earlier this week.

According to background actors who have worked on Muvhango and who have been waiting for over seven months to get paid, Nonkululeko Ndlovu's email no longer accepts messages and they also allege that they have been blocked on Whatsapp from contacting her further.

Actors said they will go and do a public protest at the SABC's headquarters in Auckland Park in Johannesburg if they are not paid.

This will be similar to a public demonstration that took place in December 2024 by Muvhango background actors, also about not having been paid.

The SABC has not renewed the struggling Muvhango on SABC2 after its current 26th season which is due to run out in June.

Last year Muvhango was given another one-year contract which also only happened after the show's contract ran out and it was effectively cancelled. The SABC and Word of Mouth Productions agreed to bring it back for one more season, but done cheaper.

Muvhango is set to be replaced by something called Pimville Queens, produced by Bakwena Productions of Kagiso Modupe, Rashaka "Rush" Moufhe and Brenda Mukwevho, that has similarly had problems and not paid everyone involved with its Pound 4 Pound drama series for Paramount Africa's BET Africa (DStv 129) channel. 

ALSO READ: SABC2's Muvhango forced to stop production again after writers, cast and crew again go unpaid by Word of Mouth Pictures

ALSO READ: Rhythm World Productions tells unpaid Umkhokha cast and crew it has 'cash flow' problems as MultiChoice vows stronger checks on growing trend of payment-skipping producers

ALSO READ: Legal action starts against producer Kagiso Modupe after he fails to pay crew and cast of BET Africa's Pound 4 Pound: 'Poor show of morals'

REVIEW. MultiChoice and M-Net's absolutely awful, violence and gun-filled 11th Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards embarrasses and shames the continent's film biz

by Thinus Ferreira

Horrific is a strong word to use but that - together with unprofessional, an amateurish mess, and a gun and violence-drenched disaster - is exactly what MultiChoice and M-Net's disgusting and extremely off-putting 11th Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards on DStv was on Saturday night.

Similar to previous years, the mistake-riddled and shoddily run and made live awards show from the Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos, Nigeria was a spectacular shocker in "let's play awards show" TV mimickry.

With the embarrassing display, MultiChoice and M-Net shamelessly shamed the continent's film and TV industry with what can only be called utter television trash.

It's difficult to fathom why MultiChoice and M-Net continue to televise disastrous and degrading awards show garbage like the AMVCAs when it is abundantly clear that the pay-TV company has neither the willingness, nor capacity and skill to even remotely do this as an awards show, or to broadcast it properly live across Africa on DStv.

Saturday night's 11th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards was a breathless, disgusting, unsalvageable television disaster, with MultiChoice and M-Net shrugging along as if nothing's wrong, the standard is adequate, and everything's fine. 

It's not by a longshot.

From mistake after mistake, and from egregious error to error, MultiChoice Nigeria's 11th AMVCA was a shocking TV travesty. 

Low-class crap like this doesn't belong on television and MultiChoice and M-Net should be extremely ashamed and embarrassed about staging an inept production like this and broadcasting something looking like - and being done in the way of the 11th AMVCAs - of Saturday night.

This type of trash makes Africa's television and film look like incompetent also-trys.

Purportedly an awards show there to showcase the best and prestigious skills and competencies of the continent's film fraternity, MultiChoice and M-Net once again staged the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards in such horrific fashion on DStv that it turned itself and what it is showcasing, into a decrepit laughing-stock. 

Shame on MultiChoice.

Is this "fine" because "oh, it's 'just' Africa" and "we don't know better, don't care, can't do better and nobody will see it"? 

Is this okay because "oh, it's just the best of what we're capable of, don't judge us for being inferior and not being able to maintain or have or reach basic or higher standards?"

Is that the mentality? Is that the approach? I refuse to accept that.

Why is MultiChoice Nigeria CEO John Ugbe, Busola Tejumola, MultiChoice's head of content and channels for West Africa, Victor Sanchez Aghahowa, head of production for West Africa, and Segilola Aboaba-Olunaike, senior manager for production in West Africa, all seemingly fine with this failure-grade production, or if they're not, unable to fix it?

The shockingly shoddy production values of MultiChoice and M-Net's 11th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards reeked of blustering incompetence as a TV trainwreck that just kept slamming forward from disaster to disaster, to disaster, with no semblance of professionalism.

A while into Saturday's 11th AMVCA trashcast, came the realisation: Someone decided to turn the 11th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards into a blood-soaked, nasty, downright disgusting violence, gun, murder and physical assault-filled show.

It's as if somebody decided to scan through all of the content nominated, culling the worst of the worst to then show throughout the night: Every single gunshot, murder, gender-violence scene, stabbing, blood-letting-spattering and torture scene available.

This got served up for DStv subscribers tuning in to a supposedly "dignified" and "stylish" awards show. The cognitive celluloid dissonance on tasteless display was shocking.

Once again: MultiChoice either didn't know and didn't care.

Or MultiChoice and M-Net were aware and okay'ed this, or were aware and were impotent to change anything.

For whatever reason, MultiChoice and M-Net chose a film awards show to subject DStv viewers - with only a wholly inadequate 13-age restriction - to a never-ending barrage over three hours of gruesome scenes of people getting stabbed, women strangled, people thrown from balconies, tortured in terrifying ways, shot and blood exploding from their bodies.

This made MultiChoice and M-Net's 11th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards the most violent, vile and disgusting one yet. And someone did that deliberately. These clips were chosen.

The result? Turning the 11th AMVCAs into a B-grade snuff movie and making Africa's film biz output look like low-class killer content.

These are just a few examples of what MultiChoice and M-Net showed DStv subscribers during the 11th AMVCAs - it's by no means exhaustive. 

I thought I'd go and count the AMVCA guns, knives and killings depicted - obviously a new record - in everything from hostage situations to murders and revenge killings - but it quickly became too much. There was one electric chainsaw.

 

How exactly does picking and showing lurid and disgusting scenes of violence, guns, shootings, stabbings, murder, strangling, physical assault and gender-violence against women "showcase" the best work from nominees and filmmakers?

Why the seemingly absolute obsession with showing every conceivable gun clip and characters constantly being threatened and being terrified? Is that the style, atmosphere and "image" MultiChoice and M-Net want to imbue the 11th AMVCAs with as an awards show?

For DStv subscribers to look away? For DStv subscribers to switch off or to tune away to another channel?

Is clipping violence for insertion into an awards show the best that can possibly be done, production-wise, to show "drama" or that work supposedly has "artistic" merit?

The vast majority of these clips and scenes didn't even fit with the nominee categories - so why the avalanche of inappropriate violent trash ripped from work to run as category nominee playouts?

How does an ordinary DStv subscriber - paying for this - watch three hours of this Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards trash and not be traumatised by it and the amateurish fail-after-fail knock-on presentation?

Once again it's very clear that nobody photenically briefed category presenters or sent them voicenotes on how to properly pronounce nominees and winners' names beforehand. 

Several presenters on stage looked embarrassed reading names that they clearly suspected they're mangling, and many botched names. Some indicated they didn't want to read the names. Even the voice-over announcer mangled names.

Speaking of him - a sarcastic IK Osakioduwa didn't hide his disdain from the in-auditorium audience nor his co-host David Oke this year as part of his off-putting shtick.

Meanwhile, the camera once again panned over empty seats, showed people milling about and the production was once again unable to do basic spell-checks or quality control on even the very few "wosrds" put on screen.

Clearwater was responsible for the graphics and insert creation.

Marred by sound problems throughout three hours (as usual), including stage mic and handheld mic mistakes and sound desk mute button errors, someone also had the terrible idea to add a mechanical parrot that squawked winners off stage.

The 11th AMVCAs suffered from the usual bad lighting design, a bad-looking stage with what looked like a badly done black tarp-backdrop, while the presentation of entire categories were botched and one had to be done over, while people struggled to read, together with obvious autocue and other mistakes and errors.

Incredibly, sponsors like Martell, Heineken, Indomie, Nivea, MTN and other companies that attached their names to this mediocre spectacle also either don't care, or don't ever watch and see how bad their brands look alongside shoddy content.

The credit roll of MultiChoice and M-Net's 11th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards lists Ikechi Nwauzor as event manager, Evi Odafe-Ejumedia as project manager, Boluwatife Awoyemi as sound engineer, Warren Bleksley as TV director, Tamara Downing as producer, Segilola Aboaba-Olunaike as production team lead, with Darren Hayward as showrunner.

MultiChoice and M-Net should stop doing the AMVCAs as an award show and as a live award show on DStv if it can't or isn't willing to do it right. 

This TV trash damages their brands and damages the image of what Africa's vibrant (and much better) television and film industry really is.