‘I myself have not been paid’: Kagiso Modupe addresses non-payment of the crew of SABC2’s ‘Pimville’

Actor and co-founder of Bakwena Productions Kagiso Modupe has broken his silence on the alleged financial mismanagement of Pimville, currently broadcast on SABC2.

On May 6, the SABC said the public broadcaster is fully up to date with payments and Bakwena Productions is in breach of contract.

In an address posted on his Instagram page captioned “The Truth”, Kagiso said despite his company having collaborated with actress and producer Brenda Mukwevho, who owns the concept of the show, once the contracts were signed, he was moved from being an executive producer to being a head director.

“Since the inception of the show, I have never been involved, nor has it been my responsibility to take care of any financial functioning of the show. That is the responsibility of the channel, the executive producer, the producer, and the line producer. I have never been involved in who gets hired, and who gets fired.

“My job as the head director was to make sure I deliver a good-quality product that can be enjoyed by the consumers.

“During production things started going wrong financially. Actors and crew were not paid; suppliers were not paid. I flagged it with my partners. First, I was told to stay in my lane, and I was shut down. Then I continued to flag it with the channel, and I was given the impression that it has been taken care of.”

Kagiso said he attempted to motivate the team to introduce a supervising producer to remedy the issue, however, they did not follow this advice.

“Here we are now where actors are not paid, crew are not paid, suppliers are not paid, and I myself have not been paid as a head director.

“The narrative out there is that I am responsible for it, which I am not. I am in full support of the cast, as a thespian myself.”

Kagiso sympathised with the crew and said the channel and production are working on a solution.

“People need to be paid for the hard work that they have put in. For their talents. And that’s why I still remain in full support of people getting paid. People who have contributed to making this show a success and where it is now.”

Kagiso said that for the past year, he has been rebranding Bakwena Productions to Modupe Studios with a pledge to make an impact in the film and TV industry and make sure people get paid what they are worth.

Having faced backlash due to previous reports and allegations made on social platforms, Kagiso expressed his gratitude to actors and producers who have shown him support privately and publicly amid the reports.

“I’d also like to thank genuinely everyone who has supported me during this time. Producers, actors, and colleagues and the crew who sent me messages of support.”