THE eThekwini Municipality’s pouring of millions into a television production house linked to President Jacob Zuma’s daughter was not sponsorship but “funding for training and infrastructural development”.
That is according to the company Stained Glass Facilities, of which Zuma’s daughter, Gugu Zuma-Ncube, is a director.
Municipal spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa has defended the R3.5 million allocated to the show Uzalo as investment in development of the city’s lagging film industry.
The Mercury reported this week how the city had scrambled to raise the R3.5 million. This came barely eight months after the city bankrolled Stained Glass to the tune of R5 million.
The company’s spokeswoman, Koketso Phala, said it was “factually incorrect to state that Uzalo received the funding from eThekwini”.
“The production house, Stained Glass, applied for, and received, the funding for training and infrastructural development. It’s important to make this distinction, because reports have created the impression that the funds were pumped into one TV show, which simply isn’t the case.”
She said the funding was “for development of skills and infrastructure, to be carried out by Stained Glass Productions”.
undefinedThe investment was paramount, as the television production industry was “overwhelmingly” based in Gauteng, she said.
“Durban/KZN does not have a TV industry, is never up for consideration from TV broadcasters because there is simply no TV industry here – in terms of human capital and TV production infrastructure. Until this industry is developed in KZN, the province will continue to be overlooked.”
She said city and provincial administrations, as a matter of routine, funded events and programmes to create jobs, skills development and the development of creative industries.
Phala suggested that the funds were minor when compared with other major events hosted and financially backed by the city.
“The Metro FM Awards, the SA Music Awards, The Essence Festival, the South African Traditional Music Awards … have each received more funding than Stained Glass,” she said.
Mthethwa said the city also benefited from a branded, five-second sting attached to specific episodes of the show (“Proudly brought to you by the City of Durban”).
Uzalo is now South Africa’s most popular TV drama, drawing 7.1 million viewers. Mthethwa said bringing a production of this nature into Durban had required additional investment because of the limited infrastructure available.
She said Uzalo had created 132 “direct” jobs, local procurement of services and products valued at R20 million.
The Mercury