Despite being a legal requirement for most television owners in South Africa, the SABC TV licence continues to suffer from widespread non-compliance
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The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has stepped up efforts to recover unpaid TV licence fees, deploying debt collectors and sending SMS reminders to households with outstanding balances.
The move comes as non-compliance with TV licence payments continues to rise, placing growing financial pressure on the public broadcaster. Fewer than 20% of households required to hold a TV licence are currently paying the annual fee of R265.
The TV licence system was introduced to help fund the SABC and support local programming. However, the rise of streaming platforms and digital content has prompted renewed debate over the relevance of the fee.
Speaking to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) last year, SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli said declining TV licence revenue was affecting the broadcaster’s ability to fulfil its public mandate.
“Fifty-five percent of our mandate costs are funded, and they are funded by declining licence fees. In South Africa, less than 20% of households that should be paying for a TV licence actually pay for a TV licence,” Chabeli told the committee.
Despite the low compliance rate, the SABC has continued pursuing outstanding payments. Households in arrears are being warned that failure to settle their accounts could result in interest charges and debt collection action.
SMS messages seen by IOL show recipients receiving final payment demands. One message warned a customer to avoid being handed over to debt collectors by settling an outstanding balance of R1,325 through the SABC’s TV licence payment platform.
The broadcaster’s collection efforts come amid wider scrutiny of TV licence compliance. Earlier reports also revealed that Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies chairperson Khusela Diko had confirmed that she owes TV licence fees.
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