One thing about struggling is that it needs one to find solidarity with those going through the same.
Chairperson of the South African Guild of Actors (Saga), Jack Devnarain, attended the 23rd International Federation of Actors’ Unions (FIA) in Birmingham, UK.
“It is a huge privilege to be a part of this and it is always an opportunity to be learning from what the other organisations are doing in order to protect the rights, the moral rights, the working rights and the earning rights of actors around the world because it reminds us of what an international working standard is,” Devnarain tells The Citizen.
Devnarain describes the FIA as a significant global event for all actors, unions and guilds. The congress was hosted from 12-15 November.
Saga is the only South African actor’s organisation to be a member of the International Federation of Actors.
“We are able to use events like this to benchmark where South Africa is in terms of protecting the rights of creatives, specifically the rights of actors and to see how far we have to go in order to bring on the kind of protection that we need in line with the rest of the world and in terms of what law needs to look like, if we are taking seriously the idea of presenting our creative sector as an industry.”
Devnarain attended the congress alongside Saga national secretary and treasurer Carlynn de Waal-Smit and vice-secretary in Durban, filmmaker Londiwe Shange.
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Work of unions
Devnarain says the most significant learning from his time in Birmingham is that most of the Western world, not limited to that part of the world, is that creative sectors are organised and regulated.
“The work of the union plays a critical function,” says the former Isidingo actor. Devnarain says this was highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People were able to receive grants or some kind of benefit, some relief funding. Those countries that were not organised and not unionised, you’ll find that they did not receive transparent funding systems. So, the work of the unions extend far beyond just getting people to negotiate fair agreements and fair rates for actors,” shares the activist.
He adds that work done by unions provides critical infrastructure within creative sectors.
He cites Ireland, which made the basic income for the arts pilot programme permanent after a trial run.
“They were able to introduce a basic income grant for creatives because the research showed them that for every euro that was given as a basic income to people who were identified as artists, there was a €1,39 return to the economy as a whole,” Devnarain said.
‘So you’ll find that the work of the unions globally is not just about organising people, they also provide a critical service in conducting industry research as well as economic research.”
He says that South Africa is nowhere near this level of organisation
“Because we don’t have the right to unionise our creatives, our labour law is far behind the rest of the world and we haven’t even worked out what is the full extent of our creative economy.”
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South Africa not protecting its own
Devnarain says other countries are as disorganised as the South African industry.
“There are other guilds that do not have full labour protection. Mzansi is one of just a few countries, but the reason we all belong to FIA is because we hold a vision for what our regulated industries could look like,” he says.
He says South Africa is seen as an anomaly compared to the rest of the world, given the strength of the country’s labour laws.
“Given the kind of protection our workforce has in South Africa employees have incredible power and backing by very progressive and protective labour laws. We also have a very progressive constitution.”
He adds that South Africa raised a motion at the congress, which was supported by the entire congress without amendment or objection.
“Our motion asked for global solidarity in reminding the South African government that the right for South African actors to unionise and to have protection under labour laws and to have fair labour practices, is contained already under Section 23 of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Our Bill of Rights guarantees us those rights and yet labour laws do not allow that.”
Devnarain said South Africa should be ashamed that South African actors are being denied protection under the constitution.
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