Ex-employee suing The River creators ‘was not actually a producer’

A former employee of Tshedza Pictures, the production house responsible for shows like The River and Legacy, has undertaken legal action against the company to the tune of R319 000.

According to a recent Daily Sun report, Emmanuel Thlakanye, is seeking damages from the company whom he blames for loss of income after an alleged wrongful arrest on 25 June due to a robbery claim that was filed against him.

It is unclear who the robbery claim was filed by, however, Thlakanye spent a few days in holding cells of both the Brixton and Johannesburg Central police stations before being released from police custody on 30 June.

Because he missed work on the days on question, disciplinary action was brought against him by Tshedza Pictures after a formal period of suspension in July.

Thlakanye told Daily Sun that he attended his hearings and explained the reason for his absence and added that his employment was still terminated in spite of this.

He also told the publication that he worked “as a producer” for the production house and had an agreement in place with them that would earn him a daily rate of R1 064.52 in addition to R65 000 for the use of his production equipment. By his calculations, all the monies that were due to him would have resulted in more than R300 000 in earnings over the period he was contracted to work.

Thlakanye has opted not to comment further on the matter.

Percy Vilakazi, who was speaking to The Citizen on behalf of Tshedza Pictures, stated that Tshedza will not be commenting on the matter either as it is currently before the courts.

He did however ask for it to be noted that Thlakanye was never a producer. He was a grip who worked closely with the camera department to provide camera support.

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