

The contentious issue of salaries and royalties has rocked South African entertainment industry, with the recent scandal surrounding the firing of Generations' principal cast for striking. Coincidentally, while the cast of Generations fight for their rights to share in the profit of the country's most financially successful show, the SABC is running a rebroadcast of what is essentially one of the perfect example of exploitation of performers in South Africa history. Shaka Zulu as a tv series made a lot of money yet its main star died poor. The contentious issue of salaries and royalties has rocked South African entertainment industry, with the recent scandal surrounding the firing of Generations' principal cast for striking. Coincidentally, while the cast of Generations fight for their rights to share in the profit of the country's most financially successful show, the SABC is running a rebroadcast of what is essentially one of the perfect example of exploitation of performers in South Africa history. Shaka Zulu as a tv series made a lot of money yet its main star died poor.









According to Joshua Sinclair, an Austria-based American screenwriter and medical doctor who penned the historical novelization of the reign of 19th-Century Zulu king Shaka and the adapted 1986 miniseries Shaka Zulu, Harmony Gold made $500million (that we know of) from Shaka Zulu tv series.

In an interview with Camera In The Sun in October 2013, the writer revealed how the $12million production was commissioned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in the midst of an international cultural boycott in the 80s, and was a massive hit, its syndication proving to be highly profitable for its distributor with subsequent profits of a staggering R5-Billion.



Bad deal from the start...





The production was shot on location here in South Africa with director William C. Faure and local actors featured prominently in the show. The show made its leading man Henry Cele an international star.







However, the production was cloaked in controversy and cultural issues from the start. When Sinclair was asked who profited from Shaka Zulu he had this to say; However, the production was cloaked in controversy and cultural issues from the start. When Sinclair was asked who profited from Shaka Zulu he had this to say;

It was being commissioned by South African Broadcasting. Because of the cultural boycott, they didn’t want to appear as the ones who were commissioning it. They wanted to do it for TV3 — and TV3 is in Zulu. I said to my friends back home, “I’m writing a movie in Zulu.” And they were laughing, “You’re out of your mind. It’s not gonna go anywhere.” It ended up being the #1 syndicated series of all time. But I wrote it in such a way that SABC could not possibly have it on TV3. It had to be TV1. I mean, it’s been seen by 3 billion people, maybe. We don’t know, because Harmony Gold [USA] has never told anybody how much Shaka Zulu made. Because they made a fortune.

Harmony Gold was given Shaka as a gift. It was used to bypass the cultural boycott. The head of Harmony Gold, Frank Agrama has recently been convicted of tax fraud for his work with Silvio Berlusconi, and got three years in jail — which he won’t serve. But Harmony Gold is the name of a mine is South Africa. They needed to bypass the cultural boycott. I didn’t even realize this was happening, until years later. Because I had 8% of the income, and I never got that. I was just given a check once by Harmony Gold for $75,000. They have made $500 million, that we know of, from Shaka. For a TV series, that’s a lot.

According to Sinclair, Harmony Gold, before Shaka Zulu, was a suite of 5 rooms in some low rent building. It wasn’t even called Harmony Gold then. It was called “FAR International” — for Farouk Agrama International.





"After Shaka Zulu, they suddenly had their own building on Sunset Boulevard, and downstairs was this gigantic cut-out of Shaka. So that sort of tells you what the deal was. South African Broadcasting did something very strange for a production company. SABC put up the entire amount of the film, which cost 10 million rand — or about $12 million. The rand was stronger than the dollar in those days." added Sinclair







The biggest blunder in all this however, came from the then SABC. The broadcaster reportedly put up all the money, but they gave 60% of the income to Harmony Gold, plus expenses. That’s unheard of.





Sinclair explained that; "... all Harmony Gold had to do was sell the movie, which was pretty easy. Literally, Harmony Gold could have, and did, rake in 80% of the income of the film gross. South African Broadcasting didn’t even recoup, according to them, the 10 million rand that they had put up in the first place."





"So then there were monies being funneled into a bank in Switzerland, which I think Agrama had together with Berlusconi. Berlusconi was using Agrama as a fence, and South African Broadcasting was using Agrama as a fence."





How apartheid made the looting of Shaka Zulu funds possible...







According to the cultural boycott brought on by sanctions against apartheid, countries could not sell or buy programs to the SABC. So for programs out of South Africa to get buyers, SABC needed not to appear as the producers. According to the cultural boycott brought on by sanctions against apartheid, countries could not sell or buy programs to the SABC. So for programs out of South Africa to get buyers, SABC needed not to appear as the producers.





Harmony Gold exploited this and appeared as the producers on Shaka Zulu with no mention of the SABC.



