Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube

Through Nyenyedzi Productions, which she co-owns with her sisters Nokuthula Nomaqhawe and Thuthukile Zuma, she co-produced and acted in Mzansi Magic's It’s for Life, a 2011 sitcom about four 20-somethings who find a squatter in their house.[4][7] Their father promoted the series through his official presidential Twitter account, for which he received criticism.[8][9]

Zuma-Ncube also co-owns Stained Glass Productions with Kobedi "Pepsi" Pokane, through which they co-produced Uzalo for the SABC1 channel.[10] It aired five days per week, Monday to Friday, and was the second-most popular television show in South Africa, behind Mzansi Magic's Isibaya telenovella, with which it was intended to compete.[11]

In 2015 and 2016, various national newspapers alleged that Zuma-Ncube benefitted unduly from nepotism through contracts of R167 million from the SABC and R8 million from the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality for Uzalo.[12][13]

The first season of Uzalo, which aired in 2015, cost R50 million,[11] and was filmed and produced in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal,[10] where it received R8 million from the ANC-led local municipal government.[6] The Democratic Alliance accused the local municipality of patronage for funding the private production, noting that there would be no government oversight of the spending and that the money could have helped less established entertainment businesses instead.[14][15]

The TV series was caught in controversy when then-SABC CEO Hlaudi Motsoeneng intervened in a decision not to renew the series, deciding instead to commission another three seasons for around R167 million, an amount with which "the SABC could produce about 20 programmes".[16] Stained Glass Productions were accused of political interference with the procurement processes of the SABC, which the co-producers denied, claiming that they "did everything by the book" and that they received no "special treatment".[17][18][19]