Muvhango staff strike over late wage disputes

The actors of the popular soapie Muvhango decided to down tools after their October wages were allegedly delayed.

According to City Press, the cast and crew of the award-winning TshiVenda drama went on a slow on Monday and Tuesday.

It’s alleged that the production has asked the staff to be patient and put a hold on their monthly debit orders as their salaries are expected to be paid by Friday.

The publication said that an actor who asked to remain anonymous has confirmed that the whole cast had decided to stay away from the set until their payments have been made.

The actor said they were supposed to start filming a new season on Monday, but they were not paid their Salaries on Monday like they were supposed to.

Another one of the actors said it wasn’t clear when the payments would be made, saying it’s not the first time this has happened.

“It’s nothing new; they don’t care about our bills.”

The actor mentioned that they have cars, houses and school fees.

According to City Press, internal staff communication informs the production of the intention to make payments on the 4th of November.

“We apologize for any inconvenience caused”, the letter read.

The communique also noted the level of stress this whole situation was causing the staff.

The producers declined to comment and directed questions to the executive producers.

The show had similar problems in 2015 and 2019 when their salaries were not paid, and the staff threatened strike action.

The creator of the show, Duma Ka Ndlovu, said back then that the problem was that there was no warning issued to them about a possible wage delay.

The cast complained about not having enough money to come to work.

Muvhango is one of the strongholds of the SABC, pulling in millions of viewers per night since its inception in 1997.

The show hadn’t updated its social media pages since last Friday, and even though the show goes on,o n the screen because they shoot new episodes months before viewers get to see them.

Muvhango continues to tell beautiful stories about the Vha-Venda culture. This year, they began their Riyahayani campaign, where the production included some old cast members in the new storylines.

The production took the cast to meet some of the show’s fans in Polokwane.

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