Production of popular SABC telenovela Uzalo has been halted by the cast and crew members, who have not yet been paid their salaries for the month of August.
Stained Glass Productions, the company that produces the show released a statement confirming the news on Monday afternoon.
The company said it respected staff’s decision to withhold services until payments were made. It stated that they were waiting for outstanding payments from the SABC.
“Production on the popular Mzansi telenovela, Uzalo has been paused for the remainder of this month. This follows an amicable decision by the cast and crew to suspend their services until such a time as they are paid their August salaries, which came due on the 25th of August,” read part of the statement.
Stained Glass said it called a meeting with staff at the beginning of August and majority of staff decided to continue working until the end of the month, but the situation has not yet been resolved.
“In August, the company’s leadership called a meeting with all the affected staff to explain the situation and give them the option of either continuing to work until month-end or taking immediate leave until payments could be made.
“The overwhelming majority of the crew elected to keep working until the end of August, so production continued. This demonstrated the team’s continued dedication to the production, their craft and industry as a whole.”
The company said that they were in constant discussions with the SABC and hoped that the matter would be resolved by next week.
Hope Winters – All4Women