Uzalo seems to be going through a rough patch once again, this time being exposed by the cast members. The actor’s have complained over unpaid salaries. This is despite Uzalo being the most watched show on television and how their actors work tirelessly to keep it at the top. The actors have alleged that they were not paid their salaries last month and are not sure whether history will repeat itself.
A news publication revealed that the actors almost did not get paid last month so they had to abandon work until their problems were rectified. The actors chose to remain discreet when approaching the publication and said they rely on Uzalo’s salary to make ends meet as most work is currently impossible to do.
“We have every right to be worried. We have only Uzalo as our source of income at the moment,” a source revealed.
The source, who is a member of the Uzalo cast, said that the lack of payment was a sign that they are not respected.
“The fact they failed to pay us on time last month, which prompted a strike, means that we are not respected and taken seriously,” said the actor.
This is not the first time Uzalo was in hot water. When the production was told to pull its socks up by the SABC it was also revealed that most actors were being underpaid. They believed what caused the problem of ‘boring storyline’ and bad acting was because they were underpaid.
However, Uzalo spokeswoman Nomfundo Zondi told the publication that the reason for unpaid salaries last month was due to technical problems. An executive from the SABC told Sunday World revealed they will try to remedy the situation rather than cancel the show.
“Yes, there are issues with Uzalo because of its dwindling numbers and the complaints we received from viewers who said the storyline was now boring. We urged the producers to come up with creative storylines to rescue the soapie because it was important to the SABC. Another thing we emphasized was that actors need to be paid decent salaries for their work,” said the executive to the publication.
Apparently the actors are worried about the future of the telenovela and their jobs but the producers assured them that they will not be jobless.
