![\"Mecer](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Mecer-Display.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMany South Africans are unhappy about the fact that they are expected to pay for a TV licence even if they don’t watch SABC programming.<\/p>\n
However, if you are caught with a television but without a TV licence, you can face fines or other penalties.<\/p>\n
As a result of this, many who plan on consuming video content without accessing terrestrial television would prefer to own a device that does not require them to pay for a TV licence.<\/p>\n
The SABC is very strict when it comes to who is exempt from paying a TV licence, which can make understanding whether you are liable to purchase one difficult.<\/p>\n
Many South Africans wrongfully think that they won’t need to pay for a TV licence if they buy a second-hand device.<\/p>\n
However, the SABC states that all TV owners must pay for a TV licence – whether the device is new or second-hand.<\/p>\n
Whoever sells the TV must provide the SABC with information about the buyer, such as their name and physical address.<\/p>\n
While many don’t bother to do this, it is worth knowing that neglecting to provide the SABC with this information is illegal.<\/p>\n
Any device with a broadcast television signal \u2013 which includes the majority of TVs available in South Africa \u2013 cannot be sold to someone who doesn’t have a TV licence.<\/p>\n
Certain “TVs” known as smart panels, which don’t have the ability to receive a broadcast signal, may be used without a TV licence.<\/p>\n
While this device functions like a TV, and often includes a remote control, speakers, and appropriate ports, the fact that it cannot access terrestrial television makes it immune to TV licence requirements.<\/p>\n
A DStv decoder can be purchased without a TV licence, but to actually use the device, it is required that the owner has a TV licence. The same is true for a PC TV tuner card.<\/p>\n
Media streaming devices, such as Apple TV and Android media players, do not require that the owner has a TV licence.<\/p>\n
If you no longer own a qualifying device, or are leaving the country, it is theoretically possible to cancel your TV licence. However, this process is incredibly tedious to actually achieve.<\/p>\n
A MyBroadband reader recently succeeded in cancelling their TV licence by proving that they were leaving the country and were no longer in possession of a qualifying device.<\/p>\n
If you want to cancel your TV licence, you can email the SABC and you will be provided with a form that you can fill in and submit if you qualify to cancel your licence.<\/p>\n
Many South Africans are unhappy about the fact that they are expected to pay for a TV licence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341039,"featured_media":172101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[38041,35,361,52623,34465,53649],"class_list":["post-312119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","tag-cancel-tv-licence","tag-headline","tag-sabc","tag-sabc-tv-licence","tag-tv-licence","tag-tv-licence-fees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312119"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341039"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312311,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312119\/revisions\/312311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\nNow read: How to cancel your TV licence<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"