R700-million bailout and no questions asked

South Africa’s National Treasury allocated R700 million to signal distributor Sentech in the 2026 budget without reviewing the entity’s business model, governance structure, or long-term financial sustainability.

This was acknowledged by the finance minister Enoch Godongwana in a response to Parliamentary questions from BOSA’s Mmusi Maimane.

Godongwana said while the National Treasury had not called for a review, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies was asked to engage on policy funding models.

This included engaging with the roles of several entities under its umbrella, which include Sentech, and how they can be made fit for purpose.

Godongwana added that an additional R189-million allocation to Sentech for dual illumination, the concurrent broadcasting of digital and analogue broadcast signals, came with conditions.

“Sentech must develop a model for cost recovery in the event that the entity must operate both analogue and digital systems in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Godongwana explained that, with broadcasting services falling under the ambit of the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, the ministry had the mandate to initiate reviews.

“The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies is the executive authority of Sentech and, therefore, has the mandate to initiate reviews on Sentech’s business models and governance,” he said.

Sentech’s finances have suffered as a result of the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC’s) failure to pay its signal transmission fees, which reached approximately R1.6 billion by February 2026.

National Treasury intervened to provide funding to Sentech, allocating an amount of R889 million for the purposes of signal distribution and running dual illumination.

Presenting before Parliament in February 2026, Sentech chief financial officer Clarinda Simpson revealed that the SABC’s monthly bills were around R71 million for most of 2025.

She said the public broadcaster only paid R20 million in most months, increasing to R30 million in November and December 2025.

Delayed digital migration takes a toll

Simpson said the SABC had committed to continue paying R30 million per month up until the end of March 2026.

She warned that Sentech was no longer a going concern, noting that it had “R176 million in the bank” at the time of its presentation before Parliament.

“We are a business enterprise. We are supposed to be self-sustainable, generate revenue, which we are doing,” Simpson said.

However, she said Sentech’s sister entities under the communications department were not fulfilling their obligations or paying the debt, creating Sentech’s dire financial situation.

The state signal distributor has also been burdened by the need to simultaneously broadcast analogue and digital TV signals due to the government’s long-delayed Broadcast Digital Migration project.

The project, which aimed to transition terrestrial broadcasting from analogue to digital in South Africa, has dragged on since November 2008.

In recent years, free-to-air broadcasters like the SABC and eMedia raised concerns that prematurely switching analogue signals off would leave many of their viewers without access to TV.

As they generated much of their revenue through advertising, these broadcasters were also concerned that a premature switch-off could have devastating consequences for their finances.

Until analogue TV signals are switched off in South Africa, Sentech must continue to broadcast both types of signals simultaneously, which carries an additional cost.

In November 2024, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies said dual illumination had cost R1.23 billion since the 2015 financial year.

The table below provides a breakdown of South Africa’s annual dual illumination spending between 2014/15 and 2023/24.

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