The popular SABC soapie Muvhango is facing a crisis as its creator, Duma Ndlovu, and his production company, Word of Mouth, fail to pay their actors and staff members on time. This is not the first time that Ndlovu and his company have been accused of being bad payers. In the past few months, they have been in the news for delaying salaries and causing frustration among the cast and crew.
A source close to the production said some of them are struggling to pay their bills and debts because of the non-payment. “We have not received our salaries since September, before we went on a production break. We are not getting any answers, which shows that we are treated like slaves by someone who is respected in the showbiz industry,” the source said. Another actor who did not want to be named said that they are worried about having a bleak Christmas. “We are afraid of losing our cars and homes because our banks think we are bad payers.
If we don’t hear anything from the producers of Muvhango, we might not get our December salaries either,” said the source. Some of the famous actors who made Muvhango popular, like Sindi Dlathu, have left the soapie for better opportunities like Mzansi Magic’s The River. Last year, the cast and crew of the soapie stopped working after salary delays. In 2019, they were not paid for two months and they were told that the SABC did not have money to pay them.
The source also said that some of the talented scriptwriters who worked on Muvhango have also left the soapie to work on other TV productions.
According to another source, actors do not even know when they will resume shooting. “We don’t know when we will start working again, there is no clear communication from the top,” added the source. Muvhango spokesperson Ndumi Mdletshe refused to comment on the matter. “I do not have a comment for you right now,” he said.