Question NW4721 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

Reply:

The Agreement on the Audio-Visual Co-Production is an Agreement for Audio-Visual works only and that includes film and television productions of varying lengths. Participants will be from both South Africa and Nigeria. The filmmakers will make use of locations and post-production facilities of both countries. Minimum financial contribution is set at 10% and maximum at 90%. This is the contribution to the overall production budget of the project. The production once certified as an official co-production, will qualify for maximum local financial benefits. This will be 35% of the film and television incentive as administered by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).

The production will also qualify as national film in terms of local quotas. The film will qualify to be entered into the South African Film and Television Awards as a local production where the categories feature South Africa. It will also be eligible under the best film category should the director be South African. The agreement will offer films from the two countries to access each other’s markets. The overall benefits at local level will be the promotion of South African technical expertise, locations, crew, cast and facilities.

The agreement between the two countries was signed in Abuja, Nigeria, during the State Visit to that country in December 2021. South Africa has met with all its constitutional requirements to bring this Agreement into force and is awaiting confirmation from Nigeria to indicate whether all the constitutional requirements to bring the Agreement into force have been met.