Important information about TV licences

The SABC says it has not yet requested an increase to the TV licence fee and explained that doing so will require an extensive legislative process. Therefore, any potential hike in the fee should be far off.

The broadcaster’s feedback comes after it briefed Parliament’s communications portfolio committee on its 7-step “Path to Sustainability” plan to become profitable earlier in May.

The first step in the plan is updating TV licence fees by applying for an increase with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) and exploring alternative collection mechanisms.

Despite the R265 fee remaining the same since 2013, the number of households paying their TV licence fees has plummeted.

In the SABC’s 2023/2024 financial year, the broadcaster collected just 14.4% of its billed TV licence fees, with R4.3 billion going unpaid. The compliance rate was even lower in the year before.

The broadcaster’s strategy seems to be focused on improving its licence revenue by extracting more money from its dwindling number of compliant licence holders rather than increasing compliance.

It also does not believe that it can get new people to take out TV licences, arguing that South Africans no longer consider the licence as a legitimate item.

“There’s no new person like a young person that is buying a TV licence,” the SABC told Parliament. “It’s the same people that were paying from day one (who) are paying today.”

“The people that have not paid from day one are the people that are not paying today. It’s the same pool of people that are paying the TV license at the SABC.”

Veteran broadcasting journalist Thinus Ferreira recently warned that this would not have the desired effect and that the compliance rate would only decline further if people had to pay more.

The fact that the increases was the first step the SABC was considering suggested it was imminent, so MyBroadband wanted to find out what the new fee would be.

If the SABC adjusted the fee based on inflation over the past 12 years, it would be bumped to around R471, substantially higher than it is today.

Increase only one option on the table

However, SABC communications head Mmoni Ngubane said that the broadcaster had not yet requested the increase.

“At this stage, the SABC can confirm that there is no request made for an increase of the TV licence fee,” Ngubane said.

Although she said that this was one of the mechanisms available to the SABC to ensure its future sustainability, it would not be quick or simple.

“The process for an amendment of a TV license fee is a legislative process that requires multi-stakeholder involvement,” Ngubane said.

Another noteworthy announcement during the presentation in Parliament was that the SABC might retain the TV licence even after it had a new source of funding.

“We are actually looking at this particular matter of the revised fund and model, whether or not it will replace the TV licence,” the SABC said.

Ngubane told MyBroadband it would be premature for the SABC to pre-empt the policy and legislative review of its funding model by the DCDT and Parliament.

“However, the SABC is looking forward to a more effective licence regime, if any, that is relevant to the current and future audio-visual services offered by the SABC as a public broadcaster,” she added.

The broadcaster previously asked that the country’s dominant broadcaster and streaming service be required to help collect the TV licence fee.

That proposal was not received kindly by MultiChoice, which runs the country’s biggest pay-TV service DStv.

Another proposal from the Organsiation Undoing Tax Abuse is that the broadcaster be given an annual allocation of funding from the country’s tax revenues for specifically meeting its public service mandate.