[Submitted via press release]
Yesterday the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) studios, where our SABC 3 soapie Isidingo is being produced caught fire. At this stage the cause of the fire has not been established, but investigations are underway. Fortunately there was no one injured from the incident.
The production of Isidingo will not be affected, as interim measures have been put in place to ensure recording continues. It must be noted that all our three soapies SABC 1’s Generations, SABC 2’s Muvhango and Isidingo record a few months in advance and utilise five studio floors.
The SABC’s Acting Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Hlaudi Motsoeneng explains: “We have five studios that are used to produce drama and only one of them has burned down. This means production will continue and the public need not panic thinking the production of their favourite soapies might be affected. We are doing our outmost as management to ensure that things return to normal and the recording sets are rebuilt speedily.”
It is expected that it will take the production companies and the SABC a few months to return operations to normal.
The estimated value of the damages is around millions of rands, our investigating team will be able to determine the exact value once they finalise their investigations. Only then will we be able to offer more details around the recovery period.
The SABC is confident that it has the capacity and capabilities of continuing full production despite the fire damage.
Footage of the incident, as reported on the news this morning: