Why does the Muslim woman whose character owns a restaurant on a series have to wear a doekie? Why doesn’t a black actor have a make up and hair artist who doesn’t knows how to do African hair? Why doesn’t a local film produced by a Muslim women get recognised in her home country?
These were some of the rhetorical questions highlighted by a panel of creatives in the film and production industry at a discussion at Artscape on last Friday September 27.
The discussion, titled SAGA SPEAKS: Unmasking Systemic Racism in Commercials, Theatre, Film & TV, was hosted by the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) unpacked issues around systemic racism influencing casting decisions, production processes, and representation on-screen and on-stage.
A statement from SAGA read: “South Africa’s industry has long been a space for activism and storytelling that challenges the status quo. However, systemic racism remains pervasive, influencing casting decisions, production processes, and representation on-screen and on-stage.”
“SAGA SPEAKS brings together leading voices from the acting and filmmaking communities to confront these issues head-on, with the goal of promoting a more inclusive and equitable industry.”
The panel included Actor and chairman of the SAGA Jack Devnarain, who chaired the discussion; actress, director, arts activist and SAGA exco-member Thoko Ntshinga; film and TV director and chairperson of the Independent Directors Association, Andile Sinqoto; screenwriter, director, actress and poet Weaam Williams; and actresses Melanie du Bois, Euodia Samson and Kazi Khuboni
Mr Devnarain said SAGA was concerned about what is going on the creative industry and that it was not regulated.
“We should all be concerned. The risk and the threat to you as creatives are greater in South Africa than anywhere else in the world because we have no regulation to mitigate the threat here.”
All of the panelists highlighted situations where they felt that racism was present.
Ms Ntshinga, fondly known as Mama Thoko, who is also an arts activist, said coming from a career during apartheid, actors did not really understand that they were being oppressed because it came across as normal.
She said about 20 years ago, on set of a popular local Afrikaans soapie, she was the only black person in the cast.
“I was given Afrikaans lines, despite the fact that I was employed with the understanding that I understand Afrikaans, not speak Afrikaans.”
She said every morning on set, she never spoke, because everyone around her spoke Afrikaans, and no one took the time to translate for her, or even speak English.
“I was getting agitated and angry but I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
Ms Khuboni said early in her career, she was employed in an advertisement and arrived on set with an afro hairstyle. Backstage, a hairstylist mentioned that her hair can be relaxed, and she could wash it out the next day.
She said she wore her afro with pride and the comment from a “white” make up and hair artist broke her, because it was then that she realised that the nuances of racism in the industry was “quiet, but very loud”.
Ms Samson questioned why the Muslim aunty who owns a restaurant in a series must wear a doekie.
“We wanted to know how they wrote a script like that because people who own restaurants don’t wear doekies.”
She said while the channel said they needed inclusivity, there was no consultation or nuances from the “coloured” community. “Because we are from the fisher village we must look like we come from the fisher village, but I own a restaurant?“
She said the crew must deal with these matters on their own, and expressed concern for young, talented actors being exploited because they were unaware of their rights in the industry.
Ms Williams said she was labelled as a troublemaker in the industry.
“Is it because I stand up for my rights? Everything (in the industry) is a secret — secret evaluation panels when you are applying for funding. I don’t even know who my friends are.”
She said a short film she made received recognition and awards abroad, but was not nominated for any awards in South Africa.
“when I came home, a local film festival wouldn’t play my film, and that was my journey as a film maker in South Africa. I tried to accept it but then I thought why? Why do I need to be recognised outside South Africa? There is this system in place that continues to disenfranchise women like me — voices like mine who are autonomous and who are not from the Big Boys Club.”
Ms Du Bois said she understood the feeling of people not speaking in “our” language.
“When I came to Cape Town I was shocked that people are scared to talk because they think they are going to lose their jobs. That is frightening.“
“I’m screaming here and I feel like I’m not being heard. There’s a target on my back because I speak up. We speak in the green room but not to the producer. We need to get out of that culture. We need a megaphone. We need SAGA to be our voice.”
Mr Sinqoto said he was “blackballed” after he started his own production company.
“For me it was bitter and sweet because some of my mentors were white.”
He said when he worked for a company and built solid relationships, he decided he would start his own business. However, when he pitched to the same producers and companies, they distanced themselves and the casting agencies would no longer send briefs.
“Commercial working Cape Town is for white people.”
Prof Noëleen Murray, of UCT, weighed in on the discussion and reflected on the inequality in South Africa, particularly in the creative industry.
“If you think about the objective dynamics that define struggles in 2024 — the sobering thought is that many of these struggles that existed pre-1994 are still very much present and replicate the same inequalities in the same space.
“I am from a generation who believed in the promise of post apartheid and its radical possibilities. We are aware of the dynamics of gender and race and how it affects people’s experiences of society, its institutions, its collectives, the city and access to arts and sport where the challenges experienced by the creative sector, which don’t exist in the transformative debate of apartheid were defined by power and exclusion and race-based.“
She said there were also people and institutions who refuse to change these patterns.
“What I hear increasingly is that discussions around transformation and change are no longer growth discussions, but they speak to this refusal of a history, and contains certain events in our past that we need to reclaim and assert as unconscionable.”
Global engagements project manager at UCT and activist Isha Dilraj encouraged the public to combat racism across all institutions.
She said while the creative industry’s issues are the same as many other institutions in the country, everyone works in silos and do not come together to fight the bigger battle.
“Racism in the creative sector and film sector mirrors the broader political socio-ecomonic context of this country, where the legacies of apartheid and colonialism and structural inequality still have a deeply profound impact.”
“We can address the structural inequalities by creating accessible pathways for under represented groups to enter the industry. This could include scholarships, mentorship and funding for projects that reflect diverse voices and experiences.“
