No salaries: Angry ‘Muvhango’ actors allegedly walk out of meeting

SABC’s Tshivenda soapie, Muvhango, is allegedly headed for another financial roller-coaster – according to Sunday World.

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‘MUVHANGO’ ACTORS STAGE WALKOUT

A source has told the publication that the actors of the sudser walked out during a meeting as they were not happy with news that they would not be getting their October salaries.

The reason for this, according to the mole, is that the how’s producers have to negotiate the renewal of a contract with the public broadcaster.

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What angered the Muvhango actors, the source said, was that they were allegedly previously told that their contracts will only end in October, and that they will get paid for that month.

“Now the new contracts that they [producers] want actors to sign state that their contracts will end in September instead, and that they will not be paid for October, which was not the case previously. So, they are refusing to sign the new adjusted agreements,” said the source.

A Muvhango actor, who asked to remain anonymous, said producers don’t want to take any responsibility for payments in case the negotiations with SABC do not cover actors’ pay for the month.

“We are the only ones affected by this, others at Skeem Saam and Generations: The Legacy never have issues when it comes to contract renewals,” said the actor.

Vuyo Mthembu – an SABC publicist – said the public broadcaster cannot comment on such matters as “contracts between the production house and cast and crew is not the responsibility of the SABC.”

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THE SAME ISSUE LAST YEAR

This is not the first time that the Muvhango actors have had financial disputes with Word of Mouth Productions, founded by Duma Ndlovu.

In November last year, News24 reported that the actors had downed their scripts after they were allegedly not paid their salaries for October.

ALSO READ: ‘Muvhango’ actors down scripts after salary delays

An actress who spoke to the publication said: “It is nothing new. It is like they do not care about our bills. We have cars, houses, school fees and other bills to pay. Nothing has been said to indicate when we will get our salaries paid into our accounts.”

In 2019, the cast and crew of the show were again not paid for October and November after the “SABC did not have money to pay them”.