Saga writes open letters to department to intervene in actors’ plight [VIDEO]

The South African Guild of Actors (Saga) has written two open letters to the ministers in the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC) and The Department of Employment and Labour.

Saga is asking the two ministries to intervene over the non-payment of freelance actors working in film and TV productions.

In the letters, Saga states that actors are offered contracts that favour the commercial interests of broadcasters and producers. It then accuses the broadcasters and producers of exploiting the actors’ lack of bargaining power.

Another assertion in the letters is that the cultural and creative industry is an unregulated sector, which “renders freelancers, particularly previously disadvantaged persons, vulnerable to unethical and abusive labour practices”.

The Saga letters come after the cast of BET Africa’s Queendom wrote a scathing open letter to Minister Gayton McKenzie in December following months of non-payment.

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Saga’s letters were sent on Thursday night and it is yet to receive a response.

“We did receive a response from the Department of Employment and Labour, an acknowledgment of receipt but nothing from DSAC,” Saga Chairperson Jack Devnarain told The Citizen.

Saga is non-profit organisation that represents the legal, economic, and contractual rights of professional actors working in film, TV, live theatre, voice-overs, commercials, and corporate productions.

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Unable to protest

The actors resorted to sending the open letters because, as freelancers, they aren’t able to picket or protest because they aren’t protected under any labour laws.

“Which is the problem. If you’re protected under labour laws as an employee, you have the right to engage in industrial action,” Devnarain said.

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“Industrial action is only applicable to an employee. In South Africa, freelance actors are not considered to be employees. We are not protected under labour laws and that is why we are asking for protection.

“We cannot ask people to put their freelance contracts at risk by going into breach of contract to go on a tool down or any other form of industrial action.”

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Not connected to Bills

Devnarain said the letters are not connected to the Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill (PPAB) and the Copyright Amendment Bill (CAB), which could dramatically change the livelihoods of actors.

In October 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa referred the Bills to the Constitutional Court for a ruling on their constitutionality.

“Let’s be clear, the president does not wish to sign the Bills and that’s why he’s referred them to the Constitutional Court because he feels that the Bills violate certain constitutional principles,” said Devnarain.

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The hearing of the Bills is set for February.

The Saga Chairperson claims that McKenzie, while speaking at the creative industries sector bosberaad at Birchwood Conference Centre in August last year, said he would encourage Ramaphosa to not sign the Bills.

“We are just expressing our disappointment that Minister Gayton McKenzie expressed on a public forum that he is going to tell the president to not sign the Bills,” Devnarain said.

“This, we felt was a serious betrayal of the actors’ cause. Actors have been fighting for seven years while the Bills were in Parliament, looking for the Bills to be signed in order for actors to earn a statutory right to earn royalties. So if the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture is opposed to actors earning royalties, then we have a serious problem.”

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