Here is my considered view on the Generations impasse. I am presenting my view without fear or favor. This is the matter where 16 actors were fired after a labour dispute with the producers. Generations has temporarily gone off air as a result of the protracted dispute as production had halted and the channel ran out of episodes to air. Generations is the most popular series on television in South Africa. My view is that the actors were brave in trying to break the mould of the exploitation of artists in South Africa over the years. Those who say producer Mfundi Vundla carries the risk and should therefore be more rewarded, my question is what risks are we talking about? There is guaranteed income from SABC which operates in an oligopoly industry and is state owned. The actors of the leading production by SABC earn less than executives and managers of SABC. That cannot be right. The actors are the core business, they are the stars. SABC subcontracted the production of this production to Mr Vundla. The buck stops with SABC. It is SABC which failed the Actors. I am surprised that actors and other creative workers of other productions are sitting pretty and not joining the Generations actors in solidarity. I think the business model of television productions should be challenged in South Africa and actors should get a bigger slice in the value chain. I therefore pledge my full support to the 16 fired Generations actors and call on all of you to boycott Generations if and when it returns to our screens.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 08:50:32 +0000