PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s daughter has hit back following a newspaper report suggesting her company’s renewed contract with the SABC is dodgy.
Gugu Zuma-Ncube is executive producer of SABC 1’s show, Uzalo. According to the report in the Sunday Times yesterday, in April last year a six-member review committee recommended that the show not be recommissioned.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng then personally intervened and reversed the committee’s recommendation. A new three-year contract was signed between the SABC and Stained Glass Productions, the company that makes Uzalo. The value of the contract quoted in the story was R167 million.
But Zuma-Ncube and co-owner of the production company, Pepsi Pokane, poured cold water on the idea that anything was improper about the deal. In an interview on Radio 702 on Monday morning, Pokane said the amount – which he said was R158 million – was in line with what the SABC generally pays production companies for shows.
He said that neither he nor Zuma-Ncube had asked Motsoeneng to intervene. Pokane said Motsoeneng had done so because the show was so popular and making money for the SABC.
He went on suggest that Zuma-Ncube was being unfairly targeted because of her political family connections.
Responding on Twitter, Zuma-Ncube wrote:
Fact: I've produced the most successful show in RSA & arguably in the history of this country, but still being persecuted with lies. #Uzalo— Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube (@guguzuma) July 10, 2016
Fact: literally being the best at what I do doesn't matter. I'm still being used in political fights that have nothing to do with me. #Uzalo— Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube (@guguzuma) July 10, 2016
Fact: # Uzalo was recommissioned because we as a show are currently bringing in the most advertising revenue for the SABC.— Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube (@guguzuma) July 10, 2016
Fact: #Uzalo was recommissioned because we broke all viewership records in our time slot. We were & continue to be the number 1 show in RSA— Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube (@guguzuma) July 10, 2016
