Skeem Saam actor Bongani Masondo, who plays the role of Mangaliso, has left the popular SABC 1 soapie after the show’s producers allegedly failed to agree to his salary demands.
Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Skeem Saam spokesperson Percy Vilakazi said that they had offered Bongani a new contract but that the production, and Bonagani's agent could not agree on the salary increase the actor would receive.
"As with all our actors, we sat down with Bongani's agent to discuss a renewal of his contract. Our offer came with an increase. His representative told us about Bongani's new salary demands and it was a figure that was too great for us to afford. We tried to negotiate but at the end of the day he decided to leave the show," Percy said.
Bongani told Sowetan that he had worked hard on the set of the show and claimed that he had to seek medical assistance for stress, but was apparently not rewarded with an increase that reflected his work.
"A lot of things have been happening in the past season and I was not really happy. My character was featured in almost every part of the storyline and I didn't complain about that. When we had to talk about renewing contracts at the end of the season in March, I asked my agent to negotiate a higher salary, they (the producers) refused," Bongani said.
Despite his departure from the show, Skeem Saam producers have decided not to kill of Bongani's character and said that he would instead be a call actor that may return for cameos on the show in the future.
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