Revealed: How much South African soapie actors earn

South African soapie actors are not known for being able to live the high life. While scandal (no pun intended) may often find them, their bank balance can go from being super comfortable to just scraping by.

With Generations: The Legacy, Uzalo, Skeem Saam and 7de Laan being watched by hundreds of thousands every night, one would normally categorise a soapie star as A-list .

According to figures and incidents in years gone by, though, your favourite star is not being rewarded too handsomely by production companies and the SABC.

How much do South African soapie actors earn? The Generations strike South Africans first really became aware of the struggle of local soapie actors back in 2014 when Generations actors went on strike after massive issues around pay.

Things got so bad that 16 actors were fired by the SABC after the strike. The ANC and former communications minister Faith Muthambi even attempted to intervene.

To this end, comrade [Communications Minister] Faith Muthambi will be meeting with the SABC to understand the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of these workers, former Spokesperson Zizi Kodwa previoulsly said on the issue.

The cast claimed that the broadcaster, as well as the production company, had failed to deliver on promises it made to them during their strike in the previous year. The actors wanted three-year contracts and salary adjustments reportedly up to R60 000 per month.

While it all ended tragically, the actors won over public support with their open letter to fans of the show. The production company took one hell of a roasting online.

This of course then led to the show being rebooted as Generations: The Legacy.

TV actors definitely not rolling in the dough

In 2015, a local actor spoke to My Broadband about some of the common payment guidelines for soapie actors.

According to that actor, a main actor earns between R25 000 to R60 000 per month. The latter is the absolute top of the scale and extremely uncommon.

With soapies made up of tens of support actors, a large share of the cast are not permanent and appears on call .

These actors earn between R1 500 to R5 000 per call, which amounts to a 12-hour day of work. When the stars of the show appear on call, they can earn up to R 6000

Another crucial aspect to consider is the role of extras, with each scene in a soapie supposed to represent a real life environment, people have to be in shot going about their daily lives.

These people all have to be paid too.

Non-speaking extras (no training required) earn from as little as R250 to R500 per day.

Which soapie pays their actors the most? The South African Guild of Actors was also jolted into action after the Generations strike. As a result, the group provided TimesLIVE with official average figures of what soapie cast members earn per month from some of the main shows.

The actors' salaries were divided up into newcomer, intermediate and experienced categories.

A newcomer on 7de Laan earned R22 000 per month while on Binelanders they earned R26 000.

Intermediate actors on Binnelanders earned R27 500 while Isidingo intermediates raked in R28 000. For Generations, the gap shoots up dramatically with the guild reporting that actors took home R40 000 per month.

Moving on to experienced actors, a well-respected star on Isidingo takes in the same R40 00 as an intermediate Generations cast member.

An experienced Generations star, on the other hand, would take in the top tier R60 000 per month.

Keep in mind that these are 2014 figures. The salaries would have since increased yearly with inflation and according to the show's ratings performance.

Recommended soapie actor salaries The South African Actors Guild publishes figures that are the recommended amounts for what actors should be paid. Think of it like the recommended retail price on a can of Coke, some shops follow it, while others charge more.

The suggested rate for a junior soapie actor is R33 275 per month.

An intermediate actor is R39 930 while a senior actor is R53 240, still below that 2014 Generations golden cherry, though.

The guild says just like the rest of the South African economy, production companies are dealing with tough times and budget cuts. This then undermines the pursuit of professional rates across the industry.

Productions are not always casting professional actors so that they can pay below the minimum rate guidelines. Broadcasters hold all the power currently and are the final decision makers in casting, so it is not always who is the best actor who gets cast. Many times the producers or directors don't have a say in their final cast, SAGA said in 2016

While there is no doubt that the biggest local TV stars are making a very good living compared to the majority of South Africans, don't forget that some of the people in the back of the scenes earn just R250 for 12 hours' work.

Tags: soapiesSouth AfricaTV and series

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