by Thinus Ferreira
Even SABC TV Licence payers who pay on time and are not in any arrears are being harassed and threatened with language in the form of off-putting wording like "your account being handed over for debt collection".
And after you've paid - good luck getting any payment confirmation or even any other kind of communication or acknowledgement or "thank you".
All the SABC communicates about in terms of SABC TV Licence fees is that it wants money from you - and nothing else, or afterwards.
Here is my own personal example. My annual SABC TV Licence is fully paid up - one of only a very small percentage of South Africans who still bother to pay. A whopping 87% of people don't pay their SABC TV Licence.
My own SABC TV Licence of R265 was due on 31 August 2026. Nothing was in arrears. That's the only annual amount I needed to pay.
Even before that date, nasty emails from the SABC started arriving. But why, if you are not in any arrears and payment is only due on 31 August 2026?
Why does the SABC include extremely off-putting language in emails to people, not in any arrears, and who still have time to pay, like: "Please pay to
prevent your
outstanding
balance from
increasing
with monthly
penalties as
stated in the
Broadcasting
Act No. 4 of
1999, as
amended,
and your
account being
handed over
for debt
collection"?
Why is the SABC using threatening and demoralising language like already invoking "debt collection" when somebody's account isn't even in arrears? Does the SABC TV Licence division think this is so-called best practice?
That this is going to make somebody pay their licence fee?
And why does this kind of inappropriate messaging - and this type of language - not only start after a SABC TV Licence fee is due?
Emails like this make the SABC look like a street beggar who accosts you on your way to a car and simply won't leave.
If a new payment is due at the end of a month, on an account not in arrears, Edgars doesn't send you "please pay" and "handed over for debt collection" messages when you are still well before your time to make a payment.
I paid my SABC TV Licence at the end of August. Nothing was late and nothing was due.
Yet the SABC couldn't bother to send a proof of payment on email (which the broadcaster is supposed to do) and the confirmation that your SABC TV Licence has been paid for another year.
In September, I started asking the SABC for proof of payment and confirmation that I've paid my SABC TV Licence. I used the tvlic.info@sabc.co.za that the SABC says SABC TV Licence payers should use.
I asked again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
No response from the SABC. Emails went into a void, adding to the perception of absolute systemic failure of the SABC's TV Licence fee division in the eyes of the South African public.
Ironically, besides the SABC's TV Licence division not responding to licence payers asking basic things, it only communicates with TV Licence payers when it wants money.
Never at other times in the year is there any communication from the SABC about what it actually does with your TV Licence fee money, or what else the SABC is busy with, or anything at all to make you feel like a valued licence fee payer.
You're only emailed once you must pay a licence fee, and once you do - it's apparently a case of "don't bother us".
I went to the SABC's media liaison division after I decided to use my own personal case, since there might be other people who are also being harassed for SABC TV Licence payment before it's due, or before it's past due - and then hear nothing from the broadcaster for a year.
On 22 October I emailed and asked the SABC in a media query what is wrong with the SABC's TV Licence division that it doesn't respond to licence payers' emails, or whether it's just with me that there is a problem?
I stated that my TV Licence wasn't in arrears, and I paid in time. Why does
the SABC use such extremely threatening language like "being
handed over for debt collection"? Surely people who are not
behind should not be, from the outset, threatened with such
language?
I also noted that the SABC seems extremely intent on trying to get money out of
people, but once somebody pays, there is literally nothing in
response, until money is due again.
Why the lack of communication
from the SABC's side like a thank you, or messages in between during the course of the year to explain to people how their money
is used, and what is done with it, etc?
Even after paying and
specifically asking for just a notification of payment the SABC
doesn't seem even able or willing to do that - why not?
I didn't get any response from the SABC's media liaison department, but then on 27 October, I got an email from a quality management consultant at the SABC TV Licence division, noting that "We received your payment on 31 August 2026, before your licence became due on 1 September 2026. Your account is up to date, and thank you for paying on time".
The email said that the payment was processed but that no statement was sent.
"This was our oversight, and we take full responsibility for it. Please accept our sincere apologies. You paid on time and asked
us more than once for confirmation, which is a simple and fair request. It should have been dealt with promptly, and our aim is to respond to correspondence within 48 to 72 hours."
"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We regard it as a serious matter,
and it is being dealt with internally."
"We also take note of your concern about the wording of the renewal notice. The notice is a reminder of an upcoming renewal and does not mean an account is in arrears."
"It sets out what happens to accounts that remain unpaid, which are handed over to debt collection
agencies after 60 days. TV Licences would much rather help licence holders avoid that route, and your feedback on how this comes across to people who pay on time will be considered as we improve our communication."
