Muvhango not canned - SABC

Reads the press statement: “It is common place for all long running series to take production breaks - so there will be no breaks in transmission. There is no need for the public to panic as Muvhango will be on the screen for the foreseeable future.

The SABC would also like to state that while there has been a slight delay in negotiating a contact between the parties, negotiations continue in good faith with a contract to be issued soon. The SABC has done everything in its power to assist the production during this period.”

In regard to the issue of alleged non-payment of actors, continues the statement, the executive producers of Muvhango have stated that actors have been paid. According to the SABC, the payment of actors is the responsibility of the individual production companies and not of the SABC.

Last week Wednesday 20 August, the Sowetan ran a story, ‘Burst Bubble for Actors in Soapie Crew', with the “misleading” front page headline ‘Shock as SABC Cans Popular Muvhango', according to the SABC. “The SABC would like to also put on record that it is unfortunate that the Sowetan chose to publish a report with unfounded rumours, when the corporation requested an extension in time in order to furnish the newspaper with correct information,” said the SABC in a statement last week.

The SABC has been in negotiations with Word of Mouth to produce the next series of Muvhango for the past few months and all necessary documentation for contracting is in place. Currently, says the SABC, Word of Mouth has in its possession a letter of intent to produce a further three years of Muvhango for SABC2 as this a flag ship property for the channel.

A contract between the two parties will be issued and signed as soon as all the SABC internal processes have been completed as per normal SABC contracting procedure. The series will be on air with no interruption to viewers.