by Thinus Ferreira
South African television viewers can no longer pay for or renew a SABC TV Licence online on its website after the South African public broadcaster abruptly took the payment functionality offline following the discovery of a serious security flaw.
South Africans who want to use the SABC's TV Licence website at www.tvlic.co.za can no longer make payments there for the annual R265 fee after the broadcaster was forced to take the online PayNow functionality offline following the discovery of a major security flaw.
There's no indication of when the website functionality will be restored. MyBroadband reported that security flaws on the site made it possible to access SABC TV Licence fee payers' account information and outstanding bills without the use of a password.
The SABC TV Licence website now only says "We are currently experiencing issues on PayNow. We apologise for the inconvenience."
"Our range of physical paypoints extends to banks, the Post Office, retailers, EasyPay outlets, the SABC head office and branches. Take your statement with you, furnish your TV licence account number as reference, and choose the most convenient place for paid-up peace of mind."
In response to a media query, Ndileka Cola, SABC spokesperson, told TVwithThinus that "The SABC can confirm that the PayNow service was taken offline on 21 July 2022
after the reports of vulnerabilities".
"This matter is being addressed and the
system will be restored after a thorough testing and vulnerability
scanning."
