South African public broadcaster the SABC has announced that it is pleased with the progress made since a fire destroyed one of its production studios on 13 June this year.
The fire occurred at the SABC’s Henley Television Facilities in Auckland Park, where the soapie Isidingo is produced. The fire caused water, electrical, heat and smoke damage to seven studios, the adjacent building and ancillary facilities.
According to a statement from the SABC, they have now completed extensive cleaning of all affected environments. The electrical system, sprinkler system and air-conditioning system have also been reconfigured and restored to ensure safety of all occupants.
“All studios, except for the damaged studio six, have been back in full operational condition. All productions continued internally, with the exception of Muvhango, which has been accommodated externally.
“As part of the unfolding recovery program, in which the SABC has been working with engineers, structural damage was identified in studio seven during routine inspections,’ reads the statement.
The SABC’s Acting Chief Operations Officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, elaborates: “After the fire a mammoth task lay before us, not only did we have the challenge of rebuilding, but also of ensuring continued productivity of our soapies in the process. I am pleased with the diligent work of our team; they worked tirelessly to ensure that things returned to an acceptable normal sooner than we had anticipated. Although a lot of work still needs to be done and some threats have been identified. I am confident we will be able to recover completely and return to full scale production.’
As a precaution, the studio has been temporarily decommissioned. The engineers are determining the extent of the damage and are currently compiling a plan that will ensure efficient restoration of the studio. Alternative arrangements have been made to ensure that all productions continue uninterrupted.
