Issued on 06 June 2022
The Eastern Cape Province continues to be the home for the popular international reality competition show Survivor South Africa. The Season 8 was shot in the Wild Coast and the latest instalment of Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcast Season 9, was shot at the Great Fish River Resort in the Ngqushwa Municipality and will be flighted in July 2022.
The partnership between the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and M-Net sees a substantial financial injection into the province with a variety of skills being transferred to local people as well as the utilisation of local talent, especially that of the rural parts of Ngqushwa, surrounding the Great Fish River. “The ECDC’s investment of R4 million towards the production of both Season 8 and 9 of Survivor South Africa shot in the Wild Coast and the Great Fish River respectively, resulted in an economic impact value of R79 million and created 169 local jobs, with 25 local small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) participating in the film production value chain. It is through these strategic partnerships that the continuous investments into the film industry yields results that have a positive impact on the economy of the province,” added Ayanda Wakaba, ECDC CEO.
With international filmmakers taking a keen interest on South Africa’s most distinct and breath-taking locations for their projects, the Eastern Cape Province intends to support the film industry to leverage on its untapped potential to attract investment. The film industry has proven to be a stimulant of massive returns through promotion of ideal leisure destinations for tourism as well as skills transfer for SMME development.
The Eastern Cape Investment Film Fund (ECIFF) established in 2019 and implemented through the ECDC, has been instrumental in stimulating the development of the film industry value chain where award-winning productions have been produced and supported in the province, while benefiting the local SMMEs who are active players and participants in the value chain. The objectives of the ECIFF are to attract direct and indirect investments, job creation and promote the province as the film destination of choice. Moreover, the fund seeks to enhance the correlation of the industry with other industries such as arts and culture for cultural knowledge dissemination and heritage preservation. The film industry supports a dynamic and creative economy, employing people across a diversity of skills and trades which increases SMME participation as well as opportunities for skills transfer for young people.
Since its implementation, the ECIFF has shown noteworthy economic impact where R268 million worth of return on investment was realised, with 450 local SMMEs actively participating in the value chain and 6 500 jobs created for the duration of the various projects supported by the fund.
The critical partners that enabled the shooting of this season, hosting it at the Great Fish River were Amathole District Municipality and its Development Agency, ASPIRE. Khanyisa Snombo ASPIRE Acting Chief Operations Officer, saw Survivor SA Season 9 as having “opened-up job opportunities for community members during the production as well as SMMEs of East London down to Qheberha. Within the film sector there has been skills transfer and training that took place to benefit our local film makers. Snombo further said that “ASPIRE is pleased with the social investment made by Afrokaans Production Company to a local primary school in Ngqushwa. As ADM we are eagerly looking forward to future investments that are to happen in the Ngqushwa area, as that will enable us to have an Eastern Cape Province, we can all be proud off.”
Welcoming the partnership, Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane said, “we are thrilled to support the return of Survivor South Africa franchise to the Eastern Cape through the ECIFF. The province is full of untapped opportunities and is open to potential investors with a keen interest in establishing their projects in our home soil. We boast cinematic landscapes with 800 kilometres of un-spoilt coastline and beautiful locations that will suite any desired film setting.”
Eastern Cape Film Destination of Choice and Home to Survivor South Africa.
Issued by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation on partnership with ASPIRE, Amathole District Municipality and MNet.