South African government slammed over 2 490 unpaid SABC TV Licences as household evasion rate reaches new record-high of 86%

by Thinus Ferreira

Over 2 490 SABC TV Licences for TV sets that belong to the South African government are in arrears which the government isn't paying for, totalling over R35 million, while the rate of South African households who no longer pay has ticked up and increased to 86%.

While neither the South African government nor ordinary citizens still bother to pay an annual SABC TV Licence, the government continues to drag its feet to replace the R265 annual licence fee with some other type of funding to support the public broadcaster.

At its latest appearance before parliament's portfolio committee on communications, the SABC confirmed that for its financial year of 2023/2024, the South African government failed to pay 2 490 SABC TV Licence fees to a value of R35 million.

While the struggling and technically insolvent broadcaster invoiced over R5 billion in SABC TV Licence fees for the financial year, it received a measly R726 million, with fewer South African TV households than ever before who still bother to pay.

According to Yolande van Biljon, SABC chief financial officer, the SABC TV Licence income "remains on a downward trajectory" with the evasion rate which increased from 84% to 86%.

The department of communications and digital technologies is years behind with reform of the system to ensure that the public broadcaster's public broadcasting mandate is fully and functionally funded. 

While countries like France have abolished its TV Licence fee system and the United Kingdom is on track to do away with the BBC licence fee by the end of 2027, South Africa's public broadcaster keeps doing the same thing expecting different results.

The SABC keeps issuing licences for new TV sets bought and keeps spending millions annually on debt agencies to try and get people to pay up. Yet, fewer and fewer people do.

Mmoni Seapolelo, SABC spokesperson, told TVwithThinus in response to a media query "The SABC can confirm that it is working with the shareholder to address the outstanding licence fees owed by government entities". 

The shareholder referred to is the department of communications and digital technologies. 

Solly Malatsi, minister of communications and digital technologies, has now slammed government departments for not paying their SABC TV Licence fees, noting in a statement that "the culture of non-payment of public services such as TV Licences is unacceptable".

Malatsi says that he has written to deputy president Paul Mashatile "to request urgent intervention in addressing the issue of unpaid TV licence fees by several government departments".

"Government, as a leader in our society, must set the high standard for compliance with legal and financial responsibilities. By ensuring that all government departments pay the TV licenses in full and on time will help support the public broadcaster's financial health."

Malatsi says "It is crucial that we take steps to lessen the burden on the national fiscus by ensuring that the SABC has the resources it needs to fulfil its mandate."

"While the need for a new, credible and effective funding model for the SABC is being prioritised, it remains imperative that all stakeholders, including government departments must pay for services they use."

"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 broadcasting services to all South Africans."

SABC warns over 2024's first fake SABC TV Licence email.

by Thinus Ferreira

The SABC is warning about yet another fake TV Licence email that is circulating and trying to steal people's money, with the South African public broadcaster saying it will never threaten anyone with a warrant of arrest.

The first fake SABC TV Licence spam email for 2024 tries to trick people into downloading a "statement" file through a phishing attack, threatening people that a warrant for their arrest will be issued and that they need to pay the amount on the statement.

A whopping 87% of South African TV households on the SABC's TV Licence register no longer bother to pay their annual SABC TV Licence fee of R265, with the South African government and the department of communications and digital technologies that have been stalling for years to get rid of it and to replace it with a better system.

The SABC in a statement is now warning the public again about the latest scam TV Licence email, saying that the "email correspondence purports to be that of the SABC, threatening the public that they will be issued with a warrant of arrest for non-payment of TV Licence fees".

"The public is advised to ignore the contents of a correspondence coming from an email address jjim@mega.* [TV Licence board]. This is not an SABC email address and the corporation will at no point threaten anyone with a warrant of arrest."

The SABC warns the public "not to download any statement from this fake email as instructed" and says the SABC TV Licence division can be reached by calling 011 330 9555 or the email of tvlic.info@sabc.co.za or get statements at www.tvlic.co.za which is the legitimate website.

Public broadcaster to launch a SABC TV Licence loyalty programme with tiered-rewards to try decrease licence fee evasion rate.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's public broadcaster will launch a SABC TV Licence loyalty programme, with tiered-rewards, in an attempt to get more TV households to pay their annual TV Licence fee.

According to the SABC's latest financial report of 2021/2022, only 18% of TV households which are on the SABC's books and which the broadcaster is aware of, still bother to pay a SABC TV Licence fee.

Millions more households owning TV sets without any licence and which the SABC is not aware of, are watching MultiChoice's DStv, StarSat, video streamers and other video content without any licence. 

After billing R4.446 billion in total SABC TV Licence fees during its 2021/2022 financial year, the SABC made only R815 million - meaning that a whopping 81.7% of people who have or once had a SABC TV Licence are simply not paying it, known as the fee evasion rate.

Meanwhile, the SABC spent R73 million rand on SABC TV Licence fee collection, which increased R9 million from R64 million in the previous financial year - meaning that the SABC's collection cost rate climbed further from 8.1% to 8.9%.

Now the broadcaster wants to start a SABC TV Loyalty programme.

"Why we had a slump in SABC TV Licence collections is that two of the agencies that were collecting on our behalf were underperforming and we had to terminate those agreements and go back to market and bring new ones onboard," Ian Plaatjes, SABC COO, told parliament.

"We'll be implementing a SABC TV Loyalty programme. The timing of this is really divine if you really think in terms of our streaming service SABC+ which wasn't on the cards before. Now we'll have a TV Licence Loyalty programme that we can link into that and so our marketing department is working out campaigns around that."

The SABC wants a TV Licence Loyalty programme that integrates with its existing TV Licence database, offers tier-specific rewards to customers, allows them to earn rewards, and enables the easy spending, transfer and donation of earned rewards.

The loyalty programme must also offer promotions, competitions and surveys.

Only 2.2 out of 10.3 million still bother to pay for a SABC TV Licence as the South African public broadcaster struggles with declining audiences.

by Thinus Ferreira

Just 21% - only 2.2 million out of the 10.3 million SABC TV Licence holders that the struggling South African public broadcaster is aware of - bothered to still pay their annual TV licence during the 2020/2021 financial year, the SABC disclosed with the broadcaster also struggling with declining audiences of its content.

Millions more TV households than just the 10.3 million on the SABC's TV Licence database exist in South Africa that the broadcaster doesn't know of, that it had failed to capture with its outdated database system, and who are watching television without paying any fee.

The SABC tabled its annual financial report in parliament on Tuesday with the SABC that yet again received a qualified audit opinion from the auditor-general (AG), and with SABC TV Licence revenue that fell from R791 million in the previous financial year to R788 million in 2020/2021.

The SABC's net loss continued to rise by a further R20 million to R530 million from the previous financial year.

Meanwhile the SABC's advertising revenue plunged by a whopping R740 million and with revenue collection down 12%. SABC Television lost R600 million in advertising revenue compared to the previous year.

The SABC blames the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"The long-term impact of Covid-19 restrictions, especially a third wave together with negative economic conditions remains uncertain. However, the board will closely monitor and respond to these."

"Advertising revenue declined by 18% due to the depressed economy compounded by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, lack of marketing and declining audiences," the SABC says. 

"Overall, 2.2 million TV licence holders managed to settle their fees in full or in part against a known database of 10.3 million television licence holders," the SABC says.

The AG notes that the SABC's "irregular expenditure incurred was the result of payments made in contravention of supply chain management legislation and regulations".

According to the AG, the SABC failed to "implement adequate procedures in the past to identify and record all instances of irregular expenditure from prior years and possible impact of these transactions on the ongoing multiyear contracts concluded in those years".

This makes it look as if the SABC reduced irregular spending from R5.3 billion in the 2019/2020 financial year to R2.8 billion, although this is a false picture of irregular spending at the broadcaster that isn't fully disclosing the details of transactions identified as such.

The AG also says that the SABC failed to provide evidence that "disciplinary steps were taken against some of the officials who had incurred and/or permitted irregular expenditure" at the broadcaster.

The SABC retrenched 877 permanent workers during the financial year that cost R177 million in a once-off payment in severance packages.

South Africa's government that wants to force people to pay a SABC TV Licence fee for smartphones and tablets itself owes the public broadcaster R57.1 million in outstanding SABC TV Licence fees and advert payments.

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African government that wants to widen laws in a controversial proposal to force people to pay SABC TV Licences for tablets and smartphones and for video streamers like Netflix SA and pay-TV operators like DStv and StarSat to collect SABC licence fees from their subscribers, itself owes the struggling public broadcaster over R57.1 million in outstanding SABC TV Licence fees and adverts.

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, South Africa's minister of communications and digital technologies, in a written response from MP Phumzile van Damme of the Democratic Alliance (DA), revealed that the South African government owes the struggling and financially cash-strapped SABC over R57.1 million in outstanding SABC TV Licence fees payments and for advertising.

"A total of 20 national departments have outstanding SABC TV Licence fees balances," said Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. According to Stella-Ndabeni-Abrahams, 126 provincial departments have outstanding licence fees.

Furthermore, a whopping "249 municipality accounts owe SABC TV Licence fees. A total of 57 SOEs have outstanding SABC TV Licence fees on their accounts," Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said.

In addition, South Africa's government owes the SABC R29.2 million in advertising: 3 national departments owe R13.1 million, 24 provincial departments owe R9.2 million, 6 municipalities owe R2.3 million and 8 SOEs owe the SABC R4.5 million in payment for on-air advertising.

The Government Communications and Information Services (GCIS) owes the SABC almost a third of the debt in debt in advertising sales, with the Compensation Fund that owes the SABC R3.7 million in advertising payments and the eThekwini Metro that must still pay the SABC R1.1 million for advertising.

Previously only a third, but now less than a quarter of South African TV households still bother to pay their annual SABC TV licence with the percentage that keeps decreasing. 

In the SABC's latest 2019/2020 financial report for the struggling public broadcaster's revenue from SABC TV Licence fees declined 18% year-on-year to R791 million.

"This resulted in only 24% of the total licence fees bulled being realised as revenue, compared to 31% for the year ended 31 March 2019.

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