One wonders in what other country the actions of a public broadcaster could possibly lead to a hunger strike by irate and desperate independent producers, but such is the case in South Africa. Michael Lee, a member of the Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA) and treasurer of the South African Screen Federation (SASFED), is now in his fifth week of hunger strike protesting the SABC’s decision to slash local content production. Five other industry stakeholders have now joined Lee’s campaign.
At press conference held by the hunger strikers on 9 September at Johannesburg’s Atlas Studios, Lee said the SABC had still not contacted the strikers and referred to the public broadcaster as an “inhuman’ institution. Neither was any SABC representative present at the press conference.
Lee pointed out that the slashing of local content spend would lead to the sharp decline of the creative industries. To date several small production companies had been forced to close or seriously reduce operations due to the SABC’s non-payment of commissioned programming.
The five other hunger strikers are: Aluta Mlisana (as at 9 September – 6 days), Gwen Britz (10 days), Keitumetse Qhali (1 day), Thabiso Mafane (10 days) and Zamambo Tshabalala (1 day).
For more on the hunger strike log onto www.hungerprotest.wordpress.com. Meanwhile, www.sasfed.org reports that social network sites are growing with viewer anger at the SABC’s slashing of local content and its massive schedule of repeats currently running in prime time.
The TV Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC), which was formed in March in response to the SABC’s financial and management crisis, has been at pains to point out that while the strike is not a formal TVIEC action, the Coalition continues to offer any aid it can to the protestors. TVIEC has requested that all hunger strikers receive medical attention and finds it most unfortunate that the strikers have been forced to continue with their action, a clear sign of the desperation of the industry’s current situation.
