SABC TV Licence replacement in 6 months
Parliament wants the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies to finalise a sustainable funding framework for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) within 6 months.
The department recently met with the Portfolio Committee on Communications, which recommended that the framework should address a replacement for the TV licence collection model.
“The second recommendation was that the DCDT had to ensure that a sustainable funding framework for public broadcasting was finalised and submitted to Parliament,” the committee said.
“The framework had to address the replacement of the current television licence collection model, the funding of public service mandate obligations, and report back to the committee within 6 months.”
Communications Minister Solly Malatsi recently revealed that his department planned to submit options for a revised, sustainable funding model by 31 March 2027.
The funding model, which will replace the current TV licence scheme, will inform the final version of the SABC Bill, which will be submitted to Parliament between 1 April 2027 and 31 March 2028.
Malatsi said that, in the interim, the SABC would continue to receive funding through the existing government budgetary framework.
He explained that the public broadcaster had been allocated R728.8 million from the National Revenue Fund over the 3-year Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period.
The funds will cover the SABC’s mandate, programme productions, and Channel Africa, the SABC’s international public radio broadcasting service.
Malatsi said his department had sought additional funding through applicable budgetary processes to address the broadcaster’s immediate pressures, such as its signal distribution obligations.
However, the Minister warned that the broadcaster shouldn’t plan its operations on the assumption that it will receive additional funding.
“It should continue implementing the revenue, cost-containment, and financial-management measures contained in its Corporate Plan,” he said.
South African residents have increasingly boycotted the TV licence scheme. The broadcaster is meant to generate a significant portion of its revenue from TV licence fees.
However, in 2024/25, just 15% of TV licence holders paid their fees. The boycotting of TV licence payments has been an issue for several years.
The public broadcaster reported a payment avoidance rate of 69% in 2018/19, which increased to 81% in 2019/20, and continued to climb over the next 5 financial years.
As a result, the SABC lost out on approximately R22.8 billion in uncollected TV licence revenue between the 2019/20 and 2024/25 financial years.
TV licences are still a legal requirement
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has said that, although it wants the TV licence scheme scrapped, South Africans are still legally required to pay the fees.
It cautioned TV licence holders against defaulting on the payments, even if the risk of prosecution was nearly non-existent.
“OUTA believes that the current TV licence scheme is clearly failing, but until the legislation changes, consumers remain legally liable for TV licence fees where applicable,” OUTA said.
The civil action organisation said TV licence holders should not assume that non-payment of TV licence fees carried no legal risks.
“Failure to pay a TV licence remains a contravention of the law and legal consequences are still possible, including fines or imprisonment upon conviction,” OUTA said.
Its warning aligned with the consequences of non-payment listed on the SABC’s TV licence FAQ page. It specifies that people who contravene TV licence laws face fines or up to 6 months’ jail time.
“Overdue accounts are handed over to the SABC’s lawyers for debt collection. If payments are late, an account incurs a penalty of 10% per month to a maximum of 100% per annum,” the SABC said.
“Anyone found guilty in court of failing to comply with the law may be sentenced to a fine of not more than R500.00 or to imprisonment for up to six months, or both.”
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