30 August, 2018 - 08:04
The filming of Uzalo has abruptly ceased with production that has shut down on the set of one of the SABC and South Africas biggest and most-watched TV shows. This comes after the South African public broadcasters failure to pay producers. by Thinus Ferreira
The move sent shockwaves through South Africas TV industry on Monday.
Uzalo is the most watched show on SABC1 and on South African television drawing in excess of 9 million viewers per episode, however the SABC is no longer able to afford the show.
Last week SABC executives told parliament the public broadcaster will only have R26m left at the end of August while its debt has spiralled to over R694m. It means that the SABC owes 27 times more than the money it has left.
The SABC said its struggling to pay to keep water and lights on, then staffers and freelance workers, and pays what it can to other service providers and producers.
After years of mismanagement, corruption, looting and irregular expenditure of hundreds of millions of rands, the SABC is once again hovering on the brink of collapse, desperate for another government bailout since its previous one in 2009 when it got a R1.47bn Nedbank loan guaranteed by the government.
PRODUCTION SHUT DOWN
Stained Glass Pictures that produces Uzalo said production shut down on Monday on the KwaMashu set prime time drama series until the SABC starts paying.
It follows two weeks after producers within South Africas TV community started buzzing that Uzalo is in serious trouble as well and is facing the impossible choice of either firing crew and staffers or having to shut down if its not going to get paid by the SABC within two weeks. That has now happened.
Its so sad because theyre such sweet people and dont want to lose their contract and theyre still a relatively new production company, trying to hard to create good work for the SABC, a producer not directly involved with the show but with connections there, said.
Channel24 was reliably informed that other production companies are likely set to follow Stained Glass Pictures, with producers who are at wits end and fed-up with the SABC who can no longer continue to take make content for the public broadcaster and take out bank loans to finance it, instead of actually getting paid by the SABC who has simply shifted the cost burden to producers.
As a company we carried the cost of production for as long as we were able to, while waiting for the outstanding payments to be settled by the public broadcaster, says Pepsi Pokane, Uzalos executive producer.
Get More Film Business South Africa
Select your Membership
Uzalo will remain shut down for at least this week until the end of August with the cast and crew who suspended their services since they were not paid on 25 August. It means that the window between production and episode delivery to the SABC will narrow by at least a week as SABC1 starts to use up and play out the reserve episodes.
Stained Glass Pictures says the production staff have exercised their right to withhold services until they receive their August salaries. We are in constant communication with the broadcaster and are confident that this will all be resolved in the next week, the company said.
Ironically the SABC reached out to Stained Glass Pictures to help after the disastrous implosion of its other TV drama, Uselwa where all the money is gone and with the cast and crew unpaid and the broadcaster having no footage to show for it.
The SABC asked Stained Glass Pictures to take over managing the Uselwa crisis, although Uzalo is now itself experiencing a crisis.
Is the government ever going to let the SABC fail? asked a TV executive who previously worked for the SABC as a producer but who is no longer doing work for the SABC. Why isnt the government approving another SABC bailout and delaying the inevitable? Production companies have been made to suffer when they havent had anything to do with causing this crisis.
EXPERIENCING DIRE FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES
The SABC asked for comment about the Uzalo shutdown on Monday night again cited its precarious financial position.
The SABC has reported on numerous platforms that it is experiencing dire financial difficulties with the corporation unable to meet its monthly financial obligations, after making critical payments, said Neo Momodu, SABC spokesperson.
Payment arrangements are being made with suppliers, service providers and creditors and we are proactively engaging with these stakeholders.
We remain concerned that a financially distressed public broadcaster will not only have negative effects on its staff, the local production industry, small, medium and micro enterprises, but on every citizen, Neo Momodu said.
www.channel24.co.za
Television
Africa South Africa
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
30 August, 2018 - 08:04 
