Africa-Press – South-Africa. Over 1 million TV licence numbers in South Africa are linked to non-payment, and 73% of these are government entities and officials.
These high levels of non-payment are putting pressure on the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) revenue, with the state-owned enterprise (SOE) now needing to find alternative income streams.
This was revealed in the Auditor-General (AG) of South Africa’s Consolidated General Report on National and Provincial Government Audit Outcomes for the 2024/25 fiscal year.
In this report, the AG explained that the SABC is in a difficult situation, facing significant financial and operational challenges.
This is made clear by the continued material uncertainty regarding the SABC’s ability to continue as a going concern, which has lasted for six years.
In its latest financial year of 2024/25, the SABC also reported a severe decline in cash reserves from R401 million to R58 million, and a negative cash flow from operating activities of R400 million.
The AG said a major contributing factor to this financial strain is the persistently high non-payment of TV licences.
The SABC has also repeatedly highlighted this as one of its biggest challenges, with South Africa currently having a non-payment rate of 85%.
The AG noted that over 1 million licence numbers are linked to non-payment, of which approximately 73% are government entities and officials.
“The widespread non-payment undermines revenue collection efforts and impacts the broadcaster’s ability to obtain relevant content,” the AG said.
However, it pointed out that this is not the SOE’s only challenge, as its failure to achieve key performance targets reflects a broader culture of non-performance.
In addition, the SABC disclosed in its latest financial statements that irregular expenditure of R10.32 million was incurred, while a further R3.06 billion was under assessment.
This, the AG said, continues to hinder the SABC’s progress and credibility. The graphic below shows the SABC’s current funding model.
Looking for alternative revenue streams
The AG concluded that the SABC requires a more effective funding model to finance its mandate.
“The department and minister responsible for communications must follow up on and monitor the implementation of updated turnaround strategies, initiatives and plans to drive financial sustainability,” the AG said.
It explained that the SABC is funded through advertisements, subscriptions, sponsorships, licence fees and other means of finance.
In its latest annual report for 2024/25, advertising revenue was by far the SABC’s largest revenue stream, accounting for R2.78 billion of the R5.15 billion total.
Sponsorships and licence fees each contributed R758 million, while the remaining R853 million came from other sources.
Therefore, while not its largest revenue component, licence fees remain an important income stream for the SABC, and non-payment of these fees places significant pressure on the SOE’s financial health.
“It has been clear for some time now that the current licence fee regime no longer has the legitimacy or relevance to South Africans,” SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli said in its latest annual report.
Chabeli explained that, while the SABC has focused its efforts on optimising licence fee collections, with some positive outcomes, these efforts have now reached a point of diminishing returns.
She said that, in line with global shifts, these fees need to be replaced by sustainable and equitable revenue streams.
Chabeli and SABC board chair Khathutshelo Ramukumba recently indicated that they favour a public levy to replace the TV licence scheme.
In September 2025, the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies also appointed technology research and advisory firm BMI TechKnowledge (BMIT) to develop the SABC’s new funding model.
MyBroadband reported that BMIT initially set a deadline of 15 December 2025 to finalise the funding model, though this was later moved to 6 February 2026.
The plans for a new funding model have yet to be revealed to the public.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
