Actor Hungani Ndlovu has been one of the most vocal actors about the petition to change laws around actors' contracts. Picture: Instagram hunganindlovu
South African actors are g*tvol with producers who continue to milk them for their works.
Taking a leaf from the US actors’ book, the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) has started a petition to protect the livelihoods of thespians left vulnerable by producers, who seek to take advantage of shoddy laws.
“Producers seek the right to capture and digitise the image, likeness, and voice of each actor for their exclusive future use in any medium, in perpetuity, and without any further compensation,” reads the petition.
“This means that actors will lose control over their own identities and any future revenue that may come from their work.”
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The 17th edition of the South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas) took place over the weekend at a glitzy event and its magnitude would have made one think Mzansi actors were a satisfied lot, but the petition details just how dire the situation is.
“The contracts prohibit actors’ membership of any organisation, union, or guild that engages in collective bargaining, denying [us of] our constitutional right to freedom of association,” the petition states.
“Adding insult to injury, they aim [to] circumvent provisions of the Copyright Amendment Bill and Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill – currently being processed by Parliament – stripping actors of any future moral and economic rights.”
The petition with nearly 3 000 signatories, so far, is directed at the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee On Trade, Industry and Competition Judy Hermans, Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour chairperson Mary-Ann Lindelwa Dunjwa, Director of the International Labour Organisation Joni Musabayana and chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission Adv. Bongani Christopher Majola.
“In addition, producers are entitled to declare force majeure if the production fails to secure grant payments from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), and thereby withhold any performance fees due to the actor. This puts the actors in a vulnerable position, as we have no control over the grant application process.”
The actors say they deserve the right to negotiate through collective bargaining to secure fair contract terms that honour their craft and value their contributions.
“We demand to be treated with respect as we break free from the shackles of servitude and stand united against those who prioritise profits over the livelihoods of the very artists who breathe life into their productions.”
In May, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted overwhelmingly to authorise its 11,500 members to strike for the first time in 15 years amid stalled negotiations with major studios.
Writers argued they were receiving worse pay and less stable work in the online-streaming era. The union also demanded additional protections for studios’ use of artificial intelligence.
Writers spent months on picket lines outside major studios from Los Angeles to New York, including Amazon, Netflix, Paramount and Warner Bros. A few months after the writers began their strike, the Hollywood actors’ union, Sag-Aftra, undertook similar action, in what amounted to a historic “double strike” – the first such action in more than six decades.
The writers’ strike, which ended last week, after 148 days, was just five days shy of becoming the longest strike in the guild’s history.
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