Jack Devnarain, chairperson of the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) said the organisation has lobbied government for labour protections and fair regulation for fifteen years.
Image: Instagram.
Showmax subscribers were met with a major plot twist last Thursday when they were told that the popular streaming service is shutting down in the near future.
The decision comes on the back of French media titan Canal+ acquiring MultiChoice.
The company explained that the move aligns with their goal to launch a massive, in-house streaming platform designed to satisfy both "African and international consumers".
The end of Showmax marks the close of a chapter in South African streaming.
Image: File
While the business move makes sense for the giants at the top, local stars and creators are watching closely to see what happens next.
Jack Devnarain, actor and chairperson of the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA), isn't sugarcoating the situation.
He recently noted on the news platform "Newzroom Afrika" that while global shifts are inevitable, they serve as a reminder of how vulnerable the local industry is.
"The reality of the industry and certainly the global industry is that there are changes. South Africa has to get used to changes in the same way Canal+ came in and took over one of the big South African brands in MultiChoice.
"We have to get used to new branding, new offerings, new services, new subscription platforms, and we have to try and establish our interests as content creators, producers, and as actors, we got to try and make sure that our concerns and needs are being catered for as well to the extent that they can."
Devnarain also pointed out that South Africa’s lack of strict rules for international companies might be coming back to haunt the local scene.
"We need to be reminded that South Africa has been marketed globally as an unregulated industry, so when international companies are coming into South Africa, they like the fact that they don't have to comply with any domestic rules, they don't have to comply with any stipulations and conditions that are posed by the industry itself. "
He suggested that the industry itself, including broadcasters and producers, has historically fought against the very regulations that could protect them now.
"Many broadcasters and producers know full well that they have been the single biggest obstacles to regulation in this industry from the very beginning.
"Now, when we are starting to get concerned about how do we regulate streamers, for example, we are the ones that have to answer our own questions, because we were the ones fighting against regulation for so many decades."
Film producer Mandla Ndimande.
Image: Instagram.
Meanwhile, film director Mandla Ndimande, better known as Mandla N, said that this situation has created a "huge opportunity" for producers and actors to come together to know where they stand and express what they want as an industry.
"For the SABC, it's a huge chance for them because right now we don't know what's happening with the streaming platform, so they could regroup and make sure they commission more content within the South African market.
Devnarain further emphasised that any future laws or frameworks must be flexible enough to keep up with how viewers consume content today.
"We need to be adaptable. Whatever frameworks we create, it needs to account for the evolution of technology and the way in which people consume and create content ..."