Zimpapers Logo

SOUTH Africa soapie stars Connie Ferguson, Manaka Ranaka and Rapulana Seiphemo have been branded traitors and sellouts by fans for signing up for the revamped Generations: The Legacy, which started last week. The three were labelled traitors for their decision to return to the soapie instead of being in solidarity with the 16 actors who were fired over a pay dispute. As a result of the dispute, Generations executive producer, Mfundi Vundla made holistic changes to its lineup and recalled Ferguson, Ranaka and Seiphemo to be part of the new look Generations.

Ranaka said they were insulted by fans of the soapie and some fired actors, who she has since blocked from her social networking sites.

“We got a lot of flak for taking this job. We had people swearing at us and calling us traitors.

“I was forced to block two of the 16 fired actors from my social networks for being in support of people tweeting us hate messages.”

Ranaka was however, unfazed by the accusations, saying she did not “give two sh**s”.

Ferguson, who returned to the soapie after leaving in 2010, said she had received “hate tweets like one-liners saying: “Connie Ferguson is a traitor”.

“I always delete these tweets and don’t even entertain them because I know who I’m and why I’m doing this.

“I’m not doing this to betray anybody. This is my profession,” Ferguson said.

One Twitter user, Kagiso Mathaba, tweeted: “I feel like Connie and Rapulana are sellouts. Support fellow actors, not profit from their loss.”

Lebogang Ngubeni concurred saying: “I guess all these new actors of Generations are traitors.”

The popular Generations soapie disappeared from television screens in October after producer Mfundi Vundla fired 16 main cast members in August over a pay dispute. The soap re-launched last week Monday as Generations: The Legacy.

According to the South African Audience Research Foundation, the launch episode attracted more than 10 million viewers compared to the original Generations which commanded 7,4 million viewers at the time it was canned.

But the reaction to the new Generations from some fans was lukewarm. Shane Morwane tweeted: “. . . it’s just so boring . . . why bring back an old storyline . . . start something new please.” – TimesLive/Showbiz Reporter