‘Pimville’ Non-payment Scandal Deepens As Parliament Summons SABC: “It’s Not the First Time”

• Parliament is demanding answers from SABC over the 'Pimville' non-payment scandal and production mismanagement
• Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications wrote to the national broadcaster, asking it to answer several questions
• The cast and crew of Pimville recently broke their silence, detailing poor working conditions, revealing deeper issues within the production

The non-payment scandal surrounding the drama series Pimville has escalated to the national level, with Parliament now stepping in to demand answers from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) following the show’s abrupt removal from its SABC 2 schedule.

The series, which was previously positioned as a replacement for the long-running Tshivenda soapie Muvhango, has now been discontinued after 75 episodes amid allegations of unpaid cast and crew.

Shortly after SABC confirmed that Pimville would no longer air in its weekly slot, it emerged that a member of Parliament had formally requested the broadcaster to account for the situation.

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'Pimville' cast and crew break silence amid non-payment scandal: "People are going to bed hungry”

Parliament steps in as Pimville non-payment scandal deepens

According to a report by IOL, Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies member Tsholofelo Bodlani from the Democratic Alliance (DA) wrote to the committee chairperson, urging that the SABC appear before Parliament before the end of the current term on 29 June 2026.

Bodlani wants the national broadcaster to clarify its relationship with Bakwena Productions, details of payments already made, and updates on officials who were suspended in connection with the matter.

During the committee meeting on Tuesday, 26 May 2026, which was focused on the withdrawal of the AI Policy and consequence management, Chairperson Khusela Sangoni-Diko said that she had received the letter and had contacted the SABC.

Sangoni-Diko explained that Parliament had requested detailed answers not only regarding Pimville, but also other productions that had raised similar concerns. She noted that the issue appeared to be part of a wider pattern affecting multiple shows.

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“It was a set of detailed questions that were asking them, because this issue has not arisen only on the Pimville series, but there had been one or two others that had been brought to our attention,” Sangoni-Diko said.

She further added that the SABC had been notified that it would be required to present its explanation directly to the committee, rather than responding in writing.

Entertainment writer Thinus Ferreira confirmed the development and said that the committee requested a comprehensive report from the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies regarding the Pimville non-payment scandal. The post was captioned:

“Parliament's portfolio committee on communications now wants a comprehensive report from South Africa's @CommsZA department into the SABC @SABCPortal and Bakwena Productions' financial mismanagement with Pimville, non-payment of workers and governance failures.”

See the post below:

Pimville cast and crew break silence amid saga

Meanwhile, Briefly News previously reported that the cast and crew of Pimville broke their silence in open letters that were shared on Facebook on Friday, 22 May 2026.

In one of the letters, a young female crew member who started working on it in October 2025 suffered a miscarriage. The letters exposed poor working conditions, lack of communication, and unprofessionalism during production.

Source: Briefly News