South Africa was one of the last countries to get television, and we’ve never caught up. When TV was launched in 1976, the SABC was naive about how much it would cost. Advertising was accepted from 1978, and ever since the SABC has been expected to cover its costs from advertising and licence fee revenue.
The BBC has no ads. Its revenue derives from licence fees (compliance rate 90%-plus) and sales of its programming to other broadcasters. The UK government funds only the BBC World Service on radio.
In 2023 the nonpayment rate for SABC TV licences was 85%. Evaders included government entities, which owed R56m. In 2022/2023 the SABC showed a net loss of R1.13bn, with advertising revenue down R436m (14%).
So, it is no surprise that the SABC has given up on collecting the licence fee, which survives only because you can’t buy a TV without one. But many viewers — especially younger ones — have moved on to enjoying content on cellphones and laptops.
The SABC — which looks increasingly archaic in the modern world of streaming and social media — now wants the government to fund it and to replace the licence with a general household levy. Yet it has shown a chronic inability to retain viewers and attract advertisers, and it’s unlikely this trend will reverse any time soon.
Such a levy would be like being forced to licence a car that you never drive, or don’t even possess.
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