By REGINALD KANYANE
7 September 2025- The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA), said the death of veteran actress, Mam’ Nandi Nyembe who was buried last weekend, must translate into genuine transformation for the creative industry.
The unions said in a joint statement that Nyembe’s face and voice were woven into the fabric of South African life bringing joy, laughter and meaning to millions over decades.
NUMSA’s Deputy General Secretary Mbuso Ngubane said she was a beloved icon whose creative brilliance enriched their screens and souls. Ngubane said Nyembe’s death is not just a personal loss for her family, but a painful blow to an industry already in crisis.
“Recently, NUMSA joined SAGA and international actor unions, SAG-AFTRA from the U.S. and ACTRA from Canada, in a conference to confront the harsh realities facing workers in the creative sector.
“We heard devastating accounts of abuse and exploitation in a space that remains dangerously unregulated. SAGA expressed a strong commitment to working with organised labour to push for regulation and basic protections for creative workers,” he said.
Ngubane further said Mam’ Nyembe’s final months were marked by financial hardship. He added that despite her fame and decades of contribution, she struggled to afford medical care and died without the dignity she deserved.
“Her story is tragically common. Many South African creatives live in poverty, even as their work fuels a billion-rand industry. This is not a coincidence, it is a system.
“The creative sector is parasitic, feeding off the labour of artists while denying them fair compensation and security. Nyembe’s suffering was not accidental. It was engineered by an industry that treats its workers as disposable,” said Ngubane.
Meanwhile, the SAGA Chairperson, Jack Devnarain said: “For fifteen years, SAGA has lobbied the government for labour protections and fair regulation.
“Until freelance actors are recognised as workers under labour law, we will continue to see heart-breaking stories of celebrated performers dying in poverty.”
Devnarain said Nyembe’s passing is a brutal reminder of the cost of inaction.
“We’ve waited 30 years—how much longer must we wait while politicians prepare their next eulogy for another actor who dies destitute?
“This is not neglect. It is a deliberate strategy to deny creatives their constitutional rights.”
NUMSA and SAGA believe that the abandonment of creative workers is a betrayal of South Africa’s democratic promise,” he said.
The Guardian 