A television production company linked to President Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Gugu Zuma-Ncube, is set to score from eThekwini coffers with the city scrambling to raise R3.5 million for its forthcoming drama series sequel.
The R3.5 million “sponsorship” comes barely eight months after the city bankrolled the company, Stained Glass Facilities, to the tune of R5 million for the production of its SABC 1 drama series, Uzalo.
Opposition parties are livid over what they allege is “preferential treatment” for the company, of which Zuma-Ncube is a director.
The notion was dismissed by the municipality’s economic development head, Shunnon Tulsiram, who said the funding had already been approved by the council.
The city’s operating adjustment budget for the units under the economic development and planning committee states that the council “has approved an additional funding sponsorship to Stained Glass Facilities … subject to savings being identified”. The municipality will have to “identify savings” to find the R3.5 million.
Stained Glass threatened in June last year to move to Johannesburg should the city not help prop up its finances. The company had asked for R11.5 million in funding, but the city offered R5 million.
undefinedMotivating for the funding, the city argued last year that the municipality stood to benefit through economic development and job creation.
Mdu Nkosi, of the IFP, who was not aware of the developments, said his party would challenge the funding.
“The IFP would like to see a breakdown report of how the initial funding was used. We want to see what impact it had, for instance; did it create jobs for the youth?”
Considering the city’s current water crisis, it did not make sense for the municipality to splurge such amounts.
“This soapie should also consider approaching institutions such as the National Lottery for funding.
“It is not only watched in eThekwini, but throughout the country. We should be prioritising service delivery.”
He said it would be prudent for the municipality’s resources to benefit the local community rather than a “select group”.
His stance was repeated by Rory MacPherson of the DA.
MacPherson said the funding was “not in line with service delivery. There is very little or no benefit to the city. We believe that is outside the mandate of local government,” he said.
Durban arts administrator Russell Hlongwane said although he was not aware of the details of the Uzalo deal, he was aware that the city was making an attempt to uplift the industry in the city.
Tulsiram said: “In terms of the sponsorship made available to them, it was agreed that we provide them with R5 million. But because we did not have sufficient funding (for the R11 million), it was agreed that at a later stage we would make funding available for the balance.”
On Monday, Uzalo publicist S’bu Mpungose and the company declined to comment.
The Mercury