At our SASFED SGM last month we had a presentation from Sithengi, giving us an update on what is happening regarding Sithengi this year.
It was confirmed in the presentation that DAC has agreed to "bail out" the loss experienced by previous Sithengi board, and to allow Sithengi to go ahead as a focused market this year. The volunteer committee has been working within their means with no support or finance for almost two years now to get to the point where all debt from the past can be accounted for. This is required so that DAC can release the money they asked for.
As a result of the shortfall in finance the current board has not been able to implement communications systems with the wider industry as yet, but hope to do so as soon as the past issues are resolved.
We thought it would be useful to all our affiliates to find out WHO is currently on the Sithengi Board, and what their positions are, that way if you have questions, you can address them appropriately while full communication is restored. SASFED will gladly facilitate an introduction to the Sithengi board for any industry organisation who needs one.
The current board are:
- Faith Isiakpere is Chairperson
- Judi Nwokedi is Deputy Chairperson
- Carolyn Carew is Treasurer
- Firdoze Bulbulia - Media Liaison/ Spokesperson
- Theo Seanego - Legal
- Catherine Meyburgh
- Dorothy Brislin
Also, Sithengi was to give a longer PowerPoint presentation at the SASFED SGM, but due to time and technical restraints that was not possible. As such they have kindly provided us a copy of the presentation, which can be downloaded here.
We hope that Sithengi does resolve the outstanding hurdles left to overcome, and that we will indeed see a much needed market this year still. Certainly demand will increase tremendously if we as producers win the battle for IP ownership with local broadcasters, then we certainly need a market. We look forward to further updates from the Sithengi Board, and will keep you all posted as we get them.
