SA film and TV industry in freefall

Protesters in Cape Town have accused the government of bringing a vital sector to its knees.

- By Kara le Roux

Hundreds of South African film and television workers gathered outside Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday, 28 January, to protest against the industry's decline. Marching under the Save SA Film Jobs banner, the group called for immediate government intervention to address the sector's instability.

The protest was called in response to what the Save SA Film Jobs coalition described as “paralysis” inside the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, which it said had crippled the film and TV production incentive — a critical rebate — and triggered a collapse in production activity across the sector.

Frustration grew as the crowd, waiting for hours in the heat, learnt that the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition, Mzwandile Masina, was allegedly engaged in another meeting. Eventually, committee members Toby Chance and Mlondi Mdluli addressed the crowd without Masina.