How to resuscitate South Africa's film and television industry

Undunnit

When Parks Tau was appointed as the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition following the establishment of the so-called Government of National Unity in 2024, some observers were enthusiastic. A relatively (stress on relatively) uncorrupt cadre was now in charge of a truly adult portfolio.

If nothing else, Minister Tau sells himself as a capable technocrat.

Reality does not bear this out.

Yes, he inherited a department in disarray, and it remains in disarray. Specifically, by the time he was appointed in July 2024, film production rebate applications hadn’t been adjudicated for over a year. There has been almost no movement since. (As is the custom, no one at DTIC submitted to Daily Maverick’s interview requests.)

Read Part 1: Who killed the SA film and television industry? Spoiler alert — the government

In part, this dysfunction emerges from an inability to set coherent policy, and then to coordinate it appropriately. It’s also about priorities: DTIC emphasises the “trade” part of its portfolio, without defining what kind of trade and with whom, and what it offers the economy that other stimuli and incentives cannot. (Unlike many other countries, South Africa’s response to the Trump 2 tariff regime has been pathetic.)

There have been several outreach sessions with the industry, and a number of protests culminating in the most recent, which saw representatives hand over a missive to the ministry. The recommendations couched within aren’t universally accepted, but they largely suggest two things:

The first is to take political control of the rebate process away from government bureaucrats who are not elected to office, and nor are they appointed to share their ideological point of view.

The second is to streamline the application process, so there’s less work for producers, and less work for bureaucrats who will no longer need to arm curl a 40kg chunk of paperwork before lunch.

So how would it work?

Redunnit

Australia, Canada, the UK and Ireland use a simple Refundable Tax Credit system that is applied for, and paid out, through their respective revenue services. This has several obvious advantages. SARS is spreadsheet-centric — the maths either works, or it doesn’t. SARS, one of the more trusted institutions in this country, has vast experience with BEE compliance, and would probably trust its own auditing and adjudication processes in that regard.

A second, slightly less streamlined option would be a Transferable Tax Credit, which allows the rebate to be “sold” along to a corporate purchaser, who provides the cash. This, of course, costs money, but it does allow a value chain to emerge.

Just as significantly, about five years ago, Hollard and others offered to set up for DTIC an online portal where producers could submit their applications — the sort of initiative that would exist in the far-off 21st century. This would mean that officials couldn’t nag for more documentation at their own discretion, and it would mean that one producer’s submission criteria was identical to another’s. In essence, this removes the bureaucrat from the bureaucracy.

Producers are also calling for an opaque but deadly distinction to be removed from the Producer’s Rebate. DTIC tends to think of the money as a gift — as a charitable donation offered to supplicants who should bend a knee in gratitude. It is not a gift. It is the taxman’s money repurposed to incentivise an industry, in order to generate more money for the taxman based on a proven model.

The industry is calling for a successful application to be guaranteed — which means it can be banked. As the executive producer Michael Auret has noted, “A rebate that you cannot obtain loans against is almost useless because people actually need the money during the production process and not at the end of it.”

And of course, if government hopes to encourage transformation — and why should it not? — it needs to be responsible for its own policies.

A black producer should not be treated like a potential criminal, or a front for a white-owned company. Rather, the BEE certification process needs to be streamlined in a way that acknowledges the fact that a single producer is not the same as MTN or Standard Bank, and shouldn’t be forced to jump through the same hoops as a vast corporation. These are small businesses, and should be treated as such. Once certified, that should be the end of it, and the same applies for independent suppliers.

In an age of virtually endless demand for new shows and films, and opportunities for job creation that doesn’t — indeed can’t, in many ways — rely on AI (at least at this “slop” stage of its development); as Hollywood’s power rapidly declines, it is unfathomable that the South African government isn’t doing everything it can to make South Africa a premium destination for film and television.

And the results are right there on the big screen: Our stories carry little to no freight among a global population that is on its way to becoming majority African within the next 100 years. Our creatives are treated as second-class citizens at best. We are a country whose narratives are spun and warped by world leaders and bad actors who wish us nothing but harm. This must change. DM