SABC Working on a New TV Licence plan

SABC is still fighting the uphill battle of trying to get South Africans to pay their TV Licences, with the government working on a new model to counter the culture of non-payment.

As a response to a recent written parliamentary Q&A, the Mondli Gungubele who is the Minister of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) revealed that there are currently 9.2 million account holders who have outstanding balances for their TV Licences, that are valued at R44.2 billion.

The department also shared last year that the TV licence fee evasion remains staggeringly high in the country, with fee collection rates indicating an evasion rate of 81.7% in 2022, which is similar to the 82.1% shown in 2021.

The broadcasting company also revealed that it had a database of 10.5 million licence holders in 2022. The latest figures from the department (9.2 million in arrears) show that the rate may have climbed to an even higher 88%. The department is working closely with the SABC to develop a new funding model that will help leave the TV Licence behind.

“In terms of the South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Ltd Bill 2022 that was approved by Cabinet on 29 November 2022 for the submission to Parliament for processing, the DCDT is proposing that the television licence model be replaced with the household fee model,”- Mondli said.

SABC’S annual performance plan that was released back in May 2022, revaled that the new ‘household’ levy would mean that South Africans who do not have a television set will still be required to contribute. In other words, the levy will apply to all households and businesses in the country, no matter the device, and it will be based on access to content rather than actual viewing. You will have to pay the levy even if you do not consume SABC content as long as you have access to it on any device.

The proposal also indicated that part of the levy’s revenue is expected to be collected by the ‘dominant subscription broadcaster’ which includes DStv and Multichoice, on behalf of the broadcaster. But even though that is the case, the new levy isn’t yet past the proposal stage and legislative changes need to be processed before it can be a reality.

Meanwhile, the non-payment of TV Licences continues to be a massive drain on the SABC’s finances. The SABC reported a loss after interest and tax of R258 million and negative cash flows from operations for the financial reporting period, amounting to R353 million in the financial year for 2021/22.

Gungubele said that his department would continue working with the SABC and Treasury to find ways to provide the necessary funding for the SABC while also exploring ways to improve collections of fees.