In 2020 South Africa’s state broadcaster inked a new 3-year deal with SABC1 to keep the show on the air, despite complaints from fans that it has become stale and repetitive.

 

The production is currently closed and wrapped up last month, earlier this year than normal, as negotiations concerning the show’s renewal were still ongoing when the new deal was announced.

Uzalo finally comes to an end
Production on the Stained Glass-produced series in Durban was set to resume on December 18, but without a new arrangement in place with SABC1, the producers chose to cancel the rest of the year’s filming. The cast and crew of Uzalo will get an extra day off for the holidays.

The new season of Uzalo, which is owned by Gugulethu Zuma Ncube, the daughter of former president Jacob Zuma, and Pepsi Pokane, began airing in March 2021, and production resumed in the first week of January.

Channel24 was informed during the show that “The factory closed for its annual break; production which was scheduled to resume on November 18, 2020. Production, however, has prolonged its hiatus and then restarted the first week of January 2020 as the contractual process has taken longer than expected “.

Insiders say that SABC management have complained about how repetitive and dull some of the Uzalo plots are, and that the cast and crew feel they are underpaid.

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“it is the first time that such a long-term arrangement has been put in place and it marks an unequivocal vote of confidence,” SABC1 says of the 3-year deal with Uzalo.

In an interview, Sane Zondi, the programme manager for SABC1, said “As its results have shown, Uzalo deserves this recognition. The property has shattered several previous benchmarks for soap operas and other long-running television shows. It’s the newest addition to the SABC family, and it’s incredible how far it’s come in such a difficult year for both the broadcasting industry and the country as a whole “.

The SABC claims that the extended contract “would offer the SABC and the production adequate opportunity to engage more in workshopping plot developments with the intention to developing more strong storylines, therefore affecting favorably on the overall quality of the show.”

With 8.8 million viewers (22.75 AR) in October and around 4 million viewers watching the show on SABC1 carried on MultiChoice’s DStv satellite pay-TV service, Uzalo has continued to be the most-watched TV show in the country and on SABC1. This is despite the show being forced off-air for five weeks this year after it ran out of produced episodes due to the local impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.

After South Africa entered its lockdown period, which led to a ratings boost across the board for broadcasters as more people stayed home, Uzalo hit 11.4 million (15 April) and 11.1 million (24 April) viewers on two separate occasions this year.

I decided it was best to leave the production immediately. Omuhle, at the Uzalo turnoff

I decided it was best to leave the production immediately. Omuhle, at the Uzalo turnoff
She is now starring as the gorgeous, smart, and cunning Nomaswazi Magwaza in SABC 1’s hit drama series Uzalo.

People were instantly drawn to the character and fascinated by her development.

Now, model and entrepreneur Omuhle Gela has acknowledged that she departed Uzalo due to disagreements with her contract.

“Yes, I’ve regretfully made the decision to depart, I can’t say much right now but I will surely agree I am not happy and deemed it proper to dismiss myself from the production with immediate effect,” she told Zimoja.

Earlier this year, the show featured new characters, and one of them was Omuhle, as part of a reworked narrative for season 8.

She was related to the character Vikizitha, played by Siyabonga Radebe, who expressed to Drum his delight in realizing a lifelong ambition of his “benefit from working conditions more familiar to him in his native KwaZulu-Natal.

Uzalo’s publicist Nomfundo Zondi issued a statement to Drum confirming Nomaswazi Magwaza’s departure from the cast “Not being able to come to terms with SABC 1 over the popular show Uzalo.

“Whatever happens in the future with this, we will let you know. Stained Glass would like to extend our gratitude to Omuhle once more for being a part of our family and we hope that she finds much happiness and success in her future endeavors “Added on to that, she says.