Minimum rates for SA actors: SAGA, PMA secure Competition Commission exemption to negotiate
· Citizen
The SA Guild of Actors (SAGA) and the Personal Managers’ Association (PMA) have secured a Competition Commission exemption, giving them a lawful five-year window to negotiate indicative minimum rates and recommended contract terms for South African performers.
Hungani Ndlovu, SAGA’s media and communications representative and guild podcast host, announced this in a video published this week. Ndlovu said performers work as independent contractors, which leaves them without many of the protections afforded to employees and “with no enforceable standard to point to” when contracts are put in front of them.
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According to Ndlovu, details of how the exemption came about, the law behind it, who is at the negotiating table and how the process is unfolding are available on a dedicated website, collective-action.org.za.
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Why performers have been left exposed
That status leaves them without many of the protections afforded to employees, and, as Ndlovu put it, “with no enforceable standard to point to.” For an actor weighing a lowball offer against an empty diary, that means leverage sits almost entirely with the other side of the table.
Collective bargaining by freelancers can run into competition law, which generally frowns on competitors agreeing on prices. The exemption creates a lawful space for that conversation. For five years, SAGA and the PMA can negotiate:
- Indicative minimum rates for performers’ work
- Recommended contract terms to guide fairer agreements
The process is aimed at setting benchmarks and an agreed standard, not at imposing binding rates.
Where to follow the process
According to Ndlovu, a dedicated website, collective-action.org.za, will house everything: how the exemption came about, the law behind it, who is at the negotiating table, and updates as the process unfolds.
The announcement lands at a tense time for the sector. The Save SA Film Jobs Coalition, an alliance of 18 industry bodies that includes both SAGA and the PMA, said on 2 November that its talks with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition over the film and television incentive had broken down for the third time. The coalition has announced a month of nationwide demonstrations from 28 January to 27 February 2027, following similar action at the beginning of 2026.