Government paralysis costs film industry thousands of jobs and millions in revenue

The Save SA Film and TV Jobs Coalition and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition have reached an agreement to tackle the crisis in the South African film and television industry caused by the collapse of the Film and Television Production Incentive. The incentive, launched in 2004, was crucial for the local industry to compete globally, but has been inactive since 2024 due to fiscal pressures and a backlog of over R700 million in film production applications.

This has resulted in the loss of 1,850 jobs and a production spend of R822 million in the current financial year alone. The coalition, comprising numerous film and TV organizations, has been advocating for the resumption of adjudication meetings to clear the backlog and restart the application process. The DTIC has acknowledged the industry's concerns and is committed to finding sustainable solutions, including a potential tax rebate system to make the incentive framework more efficient.

The department aims to resume adjudicating new applications by November, with the goal of establishing short-term working groups to revise the incentive guidelines.