Cabinet approves SABC bill to reform funding model and TV-licensing

Cabinet has approved the submission of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Bill of 2023 to parliament, which proposes changes to the TV Licence fees collection scheme.

The state broadcaster has been battling cashflow challenges in recent years amid an increasingly competitive broadcasting space in the digital era.

The details about the Bill were revealed in a statement by Cabinet last week.

New bill

While it is unclear what the new Bill proposes, it is believed TV licences may be scrapped and replaced by a ring-fenced tax regime to be enforced by the SA Revenue Service (Sars).

“Once passed into law, the Bill will result in the repeal of the current Broadcasting Act, 1999 (Act 4 of 1999). The amendments will strengthen the efficiency of the operations of the public broadcaster.

“The Bill further proposes reforms in the SABC’s funding model and the TV-licensing system,” Cabinet’s statement read.

In August, the broadcaster reported 81.7% of TV licence holders did not pay their annual fees for the 2021/22 financial year – contributing only R815 million of the total  R4.45 billion TV licence bill.

According to the Sunday Times, the SABC last recorded a profit in the 2013/14 financial year – nearly 10 years ago.

ALSO READ: ‘If people paid TV licences, SABC could show Springbok World Cup games’

TV licence defaulters

Last month, millions of South Africans were almost dealt a blow after the SABC refused to pay MultiChoice R37.7 million for the right to show all potential Springbok games for the 2023 Rugby World Cup live.

A deal had to be reached at the eleventh hour between the SABC and MultiChoice to allow for the matched to be screened on the public broadcaster channel.

A former SABC Sport manager blamed non-payment of TV licences for the broadcaster’s dilemma.

Gary Rathbone, the founder of Sportscape Media and a former general manager of SABC Sport told The Citizen, people were defaulting on paying for their TV licences.

“The answer is straightforward. If everybody paid their licence fee, we wouldn’t have this issue. The SABC would be making a profit and would be able to afford the rights without a problem.

Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele revealed recently there were a total of 9.2 million accounts with R44.2 billion in outstanding balances.

“These balances comprise unpaid invoices and penalties levied for non-payment over several years. At least 5.6 million accounts have been handed over for external debt collection,” said Gungubele, in response to Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Sinawo Tambo’s parliamentary questions.

ALSO READ: Can SABC survive the digital age, or will ‘Netflix and chill’ triumph?