partner countries
SOUTH AFRICA: profile
Key facts
Government funding
|
| Direct funding: National |
Yes |
| Direct funding: Regional |
Yes |
| Indirect funding: National |
Yes |
| Indirect funding: Regional |
Yes |
Society/Industry/Market
|
| Language |
English, Afrikaans |
| Population |
48 million |
| No. films produced per year |
25 (2013) |
| Annual cinema admissions |
25.8 million (2011) |
| Domestic share of box office |
11% (2013) |
| No. TV households |
8 million |
| Local content regulation on TV |
Yes |
| Legal system |
Mix of Civil Law, Common Law and Customary Law |
| Currency |
$RAND |
South Africa's co-production partners
South Africa made 76 co-productions between the signing of its first treaty with Canada in 1997 and 2011. Total co-productions almost doubled in 2011, up to 17 from nine in 2010.
South Africa’s eight partner countries are Canada, Italy, Germany, UK, France, New Zealand, Australia and most recently Ireland. Until 2008, Canada was South Africa’s longest-running and most active partner country; however, since 2009 Germany has been the strongest, with 12 productions made in 2011.
TV series made up 47 per cent of all co-productions in 2011, with features representing 41 per cent. Documentaries and telemovies made up another 6 per cent each.
Government support for co-productions
The industry receives support from government funding organisations, such as the National Film and Video Foundation, with public funding totalling €19.2 million. Federal rebates of 15–35 per cent are in place for both film and TV. These have the advantage of being paid in stages, and thus can be used as cashflow. Further improvements were made in 2011 with the removal of the rebate cap.
Industry overview
In 2011, 22 feature films (including co-productions) were made, with combined production expenditure of €45.5 million, and an average budget per film of €893,000. Though not as well developed in infrastructure as other international partners, South Africa’s strong commercials industry has ensured a small but skilled workforce, and the new Cape Town Film Studios can handle up to four large-scale productions simultaneously.
With a population of 48 million, including 7.5 million TV households, South Africa offers a significant TV market for co-productions through its local content quotas. Cinema admissions totalled 26 million in 2011, and the domestic share was 11 per cent.