Voting

Voting has Closed

Two Resolutions to be Adopted

This AGM comes at an extraordinary moment for the screen and stage industries, with funding shocks, platform changes and pending labour‑law reforms all converging. Over the past fifteen years, SAGA’s Executive Committee has helped secure important policy and legislative shifts that recognise performers’ rights more clearly.

The two resolutions presented here form a coherent package for this next phase: the first is designed to maintain continuity and stability in SAGA’s leadership by regularising this year’s ExCo election process in a transparent way, while the second opens a new frontier by establishing a clear constitutional framework for creating and partnering with an autonomous actors’ trade union under the Labour Relations Act. Together, they aim to safeguard what has been achieved and equip the guild for the structural changes that lie ahead.

A. Ordinary Resolution 1 (ExCo nominations and continuity)

This section explains how ExCo nominations and electronic voting will work for this AGM, and why a once-off regularisation of the process is being proposed. To read the full text PDF of Ordinary Resolution 1: Regulation of Executive Committee Nominations and Continuity (2026 AGM), click here.

1. What is being proposed?

The proposed ordinary resolution is designed to maintain continuity and stability in SAGA’s leadership, while bringing this year’s Executive Committee (ExCo) election process back into clear alignment with the Constitution. Over the past fifteen years, ExCo has helped secure important policy and legislative shifts that recognise performers’ rights more clearly, in a period of major change for the industry. Members are now being asked to approve an ordinary resolution that confirms how ExCo nominations and elections will be handled for this AGM, where the call for written nominations was issued closer to the meeting date than the Constitution ideally envisages.

The aim is twofold: to preserve the organisational continuity that the current ExCo has provided during a critical policy period, and at the same time to reaffirm members’ right to nominate and elect the nine people they wish to entrust with SAGA’s leadership for the next term. The resolution acknowledges the shortened nomination window as a once-off procedural irregularity, sets a clear timetable for written nominations and electronic voting, and confirms that from the next election cycle SAGA will return to the full one-month nomination period contemplated in the Constitution.

2. Why is this resolution needed?

The Constitution provides that ExCo office-bearers are elected at the AGM, serve for two years, and then continue in office “until the next election”. It also provides that nominations for ExCo should be lodged in writing with the Secretary at least one month before the AGM. In practice, the formal call for nominations for this AGM was issued closer to the meeting date, so the ideal one-month period was not fully observed for this election cycle.

This did not create a leadership vacuum, because the “and thereafter until the next election” wording is specifically intended to ensure continuity where an election is delayed or the timetable is not perfectly aligned. The ordinary resolution is therefore a responsible governance step: it records the timing misalignment, confirms a fair and transparent process for this year’s nominations and electronic voting, and clarifies that this adjustment is confined to this AGM rather than altering the constitutional timetable permanently.

3. Why emphasise continuity of the current ExCo?

Over the past term, the current ExCo has steered SAGA through an exceptionally demanding period for the creative industries, including major policy debates and legislative reforms affecting performers’ labour rights and contractual status. The collective experience, relationships and institutional memory developed in this period are an important asset for the guild.

All nine current ExCo members have indicated that they remain committed to serving and are willing to stand again for election. At the same time, they recognise and respect that ExCo ultimately serves at the will of the membership. Where members wish to bring in new leaders or adjust the composition of ExCo, incumbents are prepared to support succession, including by serving in an ex-officio or supporting capacity where appropriate, so that fresh voices can come in without losing continuity and accumulated knowledge.

4. Did this create a gap or vacuum in ExCo’s authority?

No. The Constitution states that elected office-bearers hold office for two years “and thereafter until the next election”. This wording is designed precisely to avoid a situation where ExCo seats automatically become vacant simply because an election is delayed or an ideal timetable is not met.

In practical terms, this means the current ExCo has continued to serve, and to make necessary decisions, throughout this period, pending the next election at the AGM. The resolution does not correct a leadership vacuum; it simply clarifies and regularises the process for moving from the current ExCo to the next term in a way that is transparent and member-approved.

5. How will nominations work this year?

For this AGM, ExCo nominations will follow a structured written process:

Nominations must be submitted on the standard nomination form, which requires: a proposer, a seconder, the nominee’s acceptance, and a brief motivation setting out what skills and experience the nominee would bring to ExCo (including any prior leadership roles).
Nominations must reach the Secretary by 11 May 2026 (using the prescribed form and the specified email/online submission route).
Because electronic voting will take place before the AGM itself, no further nominations will be accepted at the AGM for positions that appear on the online ballot.

This approach gives all members a clear and fair window in which to nominate candidates, and ensures that the electronic voting process is stable and predictable for everyone who participates. It also aligns with best practice for virtual and hybrid AGMs where online voting takes place ahead of the meeting.

6. Why is there a nomination form with a proposer, seconder and motivation?

The nomination form is designed to balance openness with responsibility. Requiring a proposer, a seconder and the nominee’s written acceptance helps to ensure that candidates are serious about serving, that at least two fellow members support their candidature, and that the nominee understands the voluntary nature and time commitments of the role.

The motivation section gives the proposer space to indicate what skills, experience and leadership qualities the nominee would bring to ExCo. This information can then be shared with members as part of the election material, so that voters are choosing between candidates on the basis of clear, comparable information rather than name recognition alone. These requirements are common in member-based organisations and are not intended to exclude anyone who is genuinely willing and able to contribute; they exist to support thoughtful nominations and informed voting.

7. How will electronic voting work?

Once nominations close on 11 May 2026 and the slate of candidates has been confirmed, members will be invited to vote electronically between 13 and 15 May 2026 via the designated online platform. The ballot will list the validly nominated candidates for election to ExCo, together with the motivations provided on the nomination forms.

The outcome of the vote will determine which candidates are elected to fill the available ExCo seats. ExCo will then, at its first meeting after the AGM, allocate portfolios and elect office-bearers (such as Chair, Deputy Chair and Secretary) from among the nine elected members in the usual way. If the number of candidates is equal to or fewer than the available ExCo seats, those candidates will effectively be elected unopposed once voting closes, consistent with the Constitution’s approach to uncontested positions.

8. How does this affect members’ rights, and is it permanent?

Members retain their core rights: to nominate candidates (within the adjusted timeframe), to stand for election if eligible, and to vote on who should serve on ExCo. The resolution does not remove these rights; it simply clarifies the timetable and procedure for this particular election year and confirms how the electronic voting process will operate.

This is an ordinary resolution, adopted to deal with the specific circumstances of the 2026 election cycle. It does not amend the text of the Constitution. The intention is that future elections will once again follow the full constitutional timetable, with calls for nominations going out at least one month before the AGM, as contemplated by clause 14.4. In that sense, the resolution is both a practical solution for this year and a reassurance that SAGA remains committed to best-practice governance and member participation going forward.

B. Special Resolution 2 (constitutional amendment – guild–union partnership)

This section explains the proposed constitutional changes that would enable SAGA to create and work alongside an autonomous actors’ trade union under the Labour Relations Act. To read the full text PDF of Special Resolution 2: Constitutional Amendment to Enable Guild Union Partnership, click here.

1. What is being proposed?

Members are being asked to approve a constitutional amendment that allows the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) to work in a structured partnership with a dedicated actors’ trade union registered under the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA).

The amendment does three main things:

It expressly empowers SAGA, as a professional guild, to establish, support or become a founding/affiliated member of a trade union for performers.
It sets out a framework for cooperation and reciprocal recognition between SAGA and the union, while confirming the union’s legal autonomy and independence as required by the LRA.
It allows SAGA to develop ancillary benefit structures (such as training, hardship assistance, and future pension/medical aid facilitation) that can support both SAGA and union members, in a way broadly comparable in spirit to the relationship between the SAG-AFTRA union and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation in the United States.

2. Why both a guild and a union?

SAGA is a voluntary association and professional guild. Its existing objects emphasise professional standards, advocacy, contractual support, and general protection of members’ interests in the screen and stage industries.

A registered trade union, by contrast, is a statutory labour-rights vehicle under the LRA. It is the appropriate structure to:

represent workers in collective bargaining with employers and employer organisations;
acquire organisational rights in workplaces and negotiate collective agreements;
support members in labour disputes and enforcement of employment rights.

The amendment recognises that the best way to advance actors’ interests is often to have both:

a guild (SAGA) focused on craft, contracts, advocacy and industry policy; and
a union focused on labour rights, collective bargaining and LRA processes.

These two structures can work together but must remain legally distinct so that the union complies with independence and democracy requirements in the LRA, and SAGA retains the broader professional role it has built over the past 15 years.

3. What does “founding member” and “autonomy” mean in practice?

The amendment allows SAGA to help found, support or affiliate to an actors’ trade union. This means SAGA can be involved at the start: helping design the union constitution, mobilising membership, and aligning strategies where appropriate.

However, the union itself will:

exist as a separate juristic person with its own constitution and governing bodies;
be controlled democratically by its own members, not by SAGA or by employers;
make its own decisions on collective bargaining, organisational rights and industrial action in terms of the LRA.

The amendment states explicitly that SAGA may not control the union’s internal governance, finances or bargaining mandates, beyond any role it may have in the same way as any other member or affiliate of the union. This is important to protect the union’s independence under the LRA.

4. How will membership work?

The amendment does not automatically make every SAGA member a union member without consent. South African labour law protects workers’ freedom of association, including the right to choose whether to join a trade union and to consent to the payment of union subscriptions.

What the amendment does is to:

state clearly that SAGA members who are eligible to join the union are entitled and strongly encouraged to do so for collective bargaining and labour-rights protection;
allow SAGA and the union to create streamlined or combined application processes, so that a performer can easily apply to join both SAGA and the union (for example, by completing a combined form or integrated online process);
allow SAGA and the union to agree that SAGA members in good standing may be admitted to the union on preferred or simplified terms (for example, reduced paperwork or simplified proof of occupation), while preserving each individual’s right to choose whether to join.

In short: the amendment is designed to make dual membership easy and natural, while still respecting that union membership must be voluntary and governed by the union’s own constitution and the LRA.

5. Will I have to pay two separate fees to belong to SAGA and the union?

In principle, SAGA and the union will be separate organisations, each with its own membership and finances, so there are two distinct memberships. However, one of the aims of the partnership is to make dual membership as simple and seamless as possible for performers who choose to belong to both. In practice, SAGA and the union may agree on convenient, combined arrangements for membership administration and fee collection, so that members do not have to manage two completely separate processes. Any part of your contribution that is treated as a union subscription will always be subject to your explicit consent and to the requirements of the Labour Relations Act, including the rules on authorising union fees.

6. How will the guild and union cooperate?

The amendment creates a framework for reciprocal recognition and cooperation between SAGA and the union. In practical terms, this may include:

aligning positions in key industry negotiations where both guild and union have a stake;
supporting the development of sectoral bargaining arrangements or statutory councils where appropriate;
coordinating communication and consultation with producers, broadcasters, platforms, casting bodies and regulators;
sharing information and expertise, subject to confidentiality obligations.

At the same time, the amendment confirms that:

any formal collective bargaining, industrial action or exercise of organisational rights will be conducted by the union, under its constitution and the LRA;
SAGA will retain its autonomy in professional, contractual, educational and policy-advocacy activities.

This is intended to create a complementary “ecosystem”, not duplication or conflict between the two structures.

7. What about future benefits like pension or medical schemes?

The amendment also allows SAGA to establish or support ancillary structures such as foundations, trusts or benefit entities that can provide:

training and professional development programmes;
hardship or emergency support;
facilitation of access to pension, provident or medical aid schemes for performers.

These benefit structures can, in principle, serve SAGA members and/or union members, depending on their own rules. The key safeguards in the amendment are that:

the financial and governance independence of the union must be respected;
any support from SAGA to the union or to benefit structures must be structured in a way that does not compromise the union’s legal independence or re-characterise SAGA as a union in its own right.

This is conceptually similar to the relationship between SAG-AFTRA (the US actors’ union) and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, where the union focuses on collective bargaining and workplace rights, while the foundation provides scholarships, workshops and hardship assistance.

8. What exactly are members being asked to decide?

Members are being asked, by special resolution, to:

insert a new object clause explicitly empowering SAGA to establish, support or become a founding/affiliated member of an actors’ trade union in line with the LRA; and
insert a new section (clause 19A) that:
- clarifies SAGA’s continued role as a professional guild;
- defines the relationship between SAGA and the trade union (founding, autonomy, membership interface, cooperation, ancillary benefits); and
- ensures that this framework complies with South African labour law and preserves the independence of the union.

If adopted, this amendment will not automatically register a union or change SAGA’s current legal form. Instead, it will create a clear constitutional mandate and framework within which SAGA can participate as a founding partner and ally in a future actors’ union, and can develop guild-based benefits and services that complement that union’s work.