Publications
The future of popular soapie 7de Laan is looking bleak.
The way things are going, it seems possible you won’t be able to sit down in front of your television to watch the lives of Hilda and co unfold on Monday evening.
“There is a possibility that 7de Laan won’t air on Monday because the SABC hasn’t yet signed the contract. All the staff were informed today that they wouldn’t be paid on the 25th,” says an employee of the show, who asked to remain anonymous.
The actors, writers and production crew sitting without contracts received a letter saying that they need to make a plan with their debits because it is unlikely that they will be paid their salaries next week.
“The problem was gently put in the memo. 7de Laan’s line manager, Frances Maposa, met with the team and said that Danie Odendaal Productions will withhold the 7de Laan episodes for season 18 (which is due to start airing on Monday) until the SABC signs the contract.
“Muvhango and 7de Laan are SABC2’s anchor programmes and bring in the most money, the SABC was also late in signing Muvhango’s contract,” adds the employee.
"This is worse than previous years' contract negotiations. The SABC has been late before, and the producers then paid the employees from their own pockets."
"Now the SABC has been dragging their feet since August," said the employee.
"There are people who use public transport to get to work. If they do not get paid by Wednesday, they won't be able to get to work.
"This means that new episodes will probably not be filmed."
The SABC could not be reached for comment.
Below is the memo in full:
