Home

SABC proposes an increase in TV licence fees

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The SABC says it has submitted a request to the Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams for a 5% increase to the television licence fee.

Board Chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini told Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts that license fees are a very important source of revenue as they contribute 15% to the broadcaster’s income.

The SABC is currently experiencing financial problems and has requested a cash injection of over R3 billion from government.

Makhathini says the current license fee is not enough – given the range of platforms the public broadcaster provides.

“South Africans are only paying about 72 cents a day for TV license. Considering what the SABC gives you which is 19 radio stations and five TV channels, our view is that we need to review the TV licence so that we can increase because it gives us quite a substantial amount of money,” explains Makhathini.

Author

MOST READ