SABC1’s popular Durban-based drama series, Uzalo, will receive a massive R5-million injection from the eThekwini municipality to help keep it afloat.
The city’s economic development and planning committee pledged the amount to the show on Thursday after producers put out the begging bowl, pleading for financial assistance.
The show’s co-directors, Pepsi Pokane and President Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Gugu Zuma-Ncube, almost convinced the committee.
The DA took some convincing, requesting a three-minute caucus before agreeing to the funding.
The pair, together with seasoned TV drama producer Duma KaNdlovu, are the brains behind Uzalo.
According to a report before the committee on Thursday, they had initially requested R11.5m from the city but were offered R5m.
On air since February, the KwaMashu-based drama tells the story of two prominent middle-class families in the township who had their eldest sons switched at birth in 1990.
It is shot in a leased Newlands East warehouse and in locations in KwaMashu.
Pokane said: “When we took over SABC’s popular 8.30pm time slot, the channel was sitting at 25% viewership.
“It is now at about 48%, so South African audiences are resonating with stories from Durban.
“We attract just over 5.1 million viewers. It is about 500 000 behind leading soapie Generations - The Legacy.
“No one has ever gotten that close.”
The SABC had invested R52m for the show’s 156-episode first season, which the producers said was proving “insufficient”.
Pokane said the sponsorship was an opportunity for Durban to prove the city “can produce and deliver a daily drama series on an ongoing, sustainable basis”.
Job-creation for the youth was one of the benefits of the city coming on board, Pokane said.
He added that Uzalo employed 132 people but faced the prospect of laying off staff should funding not be made available.
It also provided internships for university and college students.
Funding the show would “reverse the brain drain” of Durban’s talent pursuing careers in Johannesburg and Cape Town, he said.
Should the show struggle with funding, Zuma-Ncube said, the team would be forced to shoot the show in Johannesburg.
DA councillor Nicole Graham commended the professional presentation, saying it had allayed concerns she had had over the funding.
“We are, however, concerned with the amount requested. We are concerned as to whether it is the city’s role to pump money into this production,” she said.
Zuma-Ncube said producers would have had to “take it on the chin” and move to Johannesburg next season to cut costs had they not received the funding.
“We would have to move back to Joburg and use the model which we can shoot in studio and standard location shots.
“We need to see that there is a partnership with the city and the province, so it’s not just us who are taking the hit,” she said.
The Mercury