Communications and digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi has urged government departments to set an example by settling almost R35m they owe in outstanding TV licence fees.
Malatsi wrote to deputy president Paul Mashatile, as leader of government business, calling for urgent intervention in unpaid TV licence fees by government.
The SABC revealed to parliament last week that fewer people had paid for licences in the past year, including government departments that own about 2,500 TV sets, which have an outstanding licence debt of almost R35m.
The public broadcaster’s main revenue stream to fund its operations was meant to be the collection of TV licence fees, yet national, provincial and local governments owed the SABC money, Malatsi said.
The government, as a leader in society, must should set a high standard for compliance with legal and financial responsibilities, he said.
“Ensuring all government departments pay TV licences in full and on time will help support the public broadcaster’s financial health. The culture of nonpayment of public services such as TV licences is unacceptable,” Malatsi said.
It was crucial to ensure the SABC has the resources it needs to fulfil its mandate by ensuring steps are taken to lessen the burden on the national fiscus.
While a new and effective funding model for the SABC was being prioritised, all stakeholders should pay for the services they used, Malatsi said.
“This will assist in the transition towards a more sustainable financial model for the SABC, which is critical for the broadcaster to deliver on its core mandate of providing independent and quality public broadcasting services to all South Africans.
“I trust that with [Mashatile’s] support, we will ensure government departments lead by example and fulfil their obligation to the SABC,” Malatsi said.
Civil rights organisation AfriForum has called for the scrapping of TV licences as the outstanding fee by government was proof the system was a “formidable flop” that even the state has “lost confidence” in.
AfriForum public relations head Ernst van Zyl said 85.8% of consumers did not pay their TV licences in 2023 compared with 72% in 2018, according to the SABC’s annual report.
This was a clear sign the SABC was “clinging to its failed operating and financing model” and the government had now joined consumers who were against TV licences.
“’The SABC must choose whether it will sink or swim, while the inefficient, state-centred model with its obsolete TV licences to which it clings is like concrete blocks around its ankles.
“The SABC now has the opportunity to escape the existential crisis in which it has been immersed for decades by means of a fresh approach, namely privatisation, to re-establish trust in viewers and listeners and reposition the broadcaster as a modern and relevant institution,” Van Zyl said.
TimesLIVE
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