The big winners at this year’s South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) were Tshedza Pictures, which scooped 17 awards in total, many of them for the hit telenovela, The River.
South Africa’s official Oscars entry for 2019, Knuckle City, bagged six wins having had a successful international festival run. And the country’s Best Television Presenter Award, voted for by the public, was Hectic on 3’s Entle Bizana, with the Most Popular TV Soap/Telenovela awarded to Imbewu.
The winners of the annual TV awards were announced on Friday in an unprecedented fashion. MC Dineo Ranaka hosted the awards on social media platform, with people tuning in via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in an effort to celebrate and honour the South African film and television industry during the nationwide lockdown.
“It is an incredibly bittersweet moment to congratulate all the SAFTAs 14 winners while they could not experience a full celebration of their hard work, said NFVF CEO, Makhosazana Khanyile.
“We thank the industry for understanding and supporting the NFVF in the difficult decisions that had to be made during this crisis and the NFVF is fully committed to ensuring that the industry gets as much support as it needs during a time where livelihoods are heavily impacted.”
Khanyile thanked cash prize sponsors Kunene Makopo Risk Solutions. She said many sponsors had pulled out due to financial constraints. whose cash prize comes at a much needed time, and we look forward to partnering with them again in 2021. We have a lot of sponsors who started the journey with us who, due to financial constraints were forced to pull out their sponsorships and we extend our heartfelt thanks to them and look forward to renewing partnerships in 2021.” said NFVF CEO
The short and long-term insurer Kunene Makopo Risk Solutions (KMRS) sponsored the Best Actor in a Telenovela & Best Actress in a Telenovela categories with cash prizes to the tune of R50 000.
“We were more than happy to come on board in supporting South African talent for the second year in a row,” said Thapelo Mokoena and Siyanda Kunene of KMRS, Imbewu StokVes. “Our business seeks to support its clients at every avenue of their journey. Our local talent needs our support now more than ever. It’s a challenging time for the industry and this was our opportunity to say we appreciate their efforts in entertaining South Africans. We congratulate Sindi Dlathu and Roberto Kyle for their wins at this year’s SAFTAs.”
