You probably still receive repeated communiques asking to pay an outstanding SABC TV licence. Even though you haven’t watched terrestrial TV in years, perhaps decades. Strangely, SABC TV licence requirements still apply, despite the SABC being insolvent and more or less extinct in the world of media. Pay channels like DSTV and Showmax have been in the ascendency over the state broadcaster for decades. Furthermore, streaming services like Netflix, Apple TV and Disney+ continue to go from strength to strength.
It’s no wonder then that Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has admitted the days of the SABC TV licence are numbered. He says the SABC TV licence model does not bring in enough money to be sustainable. And his department is looking for a new funding model to keep the technically insolvent state broadcaster afloat, reports BusinessTech.
SABC TV LICENCE
For obvious reasons, the current SABC TV licence model has very low compliance and an even lower collection rate. In turn, this has led to a rapid deterioration of financial sustainability for the SABC. The minister acknowledged how people consume media services has shifted from using a TV to streaming through smartphones and/or laptops.
However, it’s speculated that the alternative to a SABC TV licence may be a new ‘SABC levy’. Except imposing yet more taxes on citizens who are staring down a 1% VAT increase over two years is not likely to succeed. Despite this, Malatsi says a new approach must be found, even if there are no formal proposals on the table at this time.
POOR FINANCES
In its last financial records, the SABC reported R4.09 billion in assets but liabilities of R4.12 billion, leaving it in the red by R37 million. It says it remains ‘materially uncertain’ whether it will be able to meet its obligations over the next year without severe austerity measures. However, the SABC currently has 2 234 employees, who earn an average of R653 900 each year, or R54 491 per month.
The state broadcaster spent R1.46 billion on salaries for its employees last year, making them some of the highest-paid people in South Africa. Top SABC senior management earned as much as R1.6 million annually. The question must be asked whether a state broadcaster is in anyway a prudent use of taxpayer money?
SHOULD THE STATE JUST DO AWAY WITH THE SABC?
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