SABC's TV licence era nears its end as new funding model due by March 2027

South Africa's TV licence may be on its way out. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi says a new SABC funding model will be submitted by 31 March 2027, shaping an SABC Bill due in Parliament by March 2028. Consultants BMIT have recommended a mix of public money and commercial revenue, with options ranging from household fees to an individual levy. The pressure is clear: only 15% of licence holders paid in 2024/25, and non-payment cost the SABC R22.8 billion between 2019/20 and 2024/25. For now, it gets R728.8 million over three years and has been told not to expect more, while it spends R2.5 million testing a gamified push to get viewers paying..By Myles Illidge.Communications Minister Solly Malatsi said his department wants to submit a revised, sustainable funding model for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) by 31 March 2027.The new funding model replacing the current TV licence scheme will inform the final version of the SABC Bill, which will be submitted to Parliament between 1 April 2027 and 31 March 2028.Malatsi revealed the timeline in response to a Parliamentary question from ANC MP Shaik Imraan Subrathie.“The Department has undertaken a process to develop a revised, sustainable funding model for the SABC,” the Minister said.“The Department’s Annual Performance Plan targets submission by the end of the 2026/27 financial year.”He added that, in the interim, the public broadcaster will continue to receive funding through the existing government budgetary framework.Malatsi said the SABC had been allocated R728.8 million from the National Revenue Fund over the 3-year Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period.The funds are intended to cover the public broadcaster’s mandate, programme productions, and Channel Africa, the SABC’s international public radio broadcasting service.Malatsi said the department had sought additional funding to address the SABC’s immediate pressures, including its signal-distribution obligations, through applicable Government budgetary processes.However, he also warned that the SABC shouldn’t plan its operations on the assumption that it will receive additional funding.“It should continue implementing the revenue, cost-containment, and financial-management measures contained in its Corporate Plan,” Malatsi said.South Africans have increasingly boycotted the SABC’s TV licence scheme, from which it is supposed to generate a significant portion of its revenue. In 2024/25, just 15% of TV licence holders paid their fees.However, this avoidance has occurred for several years. The SABC recorded a payment avoidance rate of 69% in 2018/19, which increased to 81% in 2019/20.Avoidance rates continued to climb over the next 5 financial years, resulting in the SABC losing out on R22.8 billion in revenue between the 2019/20 and 2024/25 financial years.Secret R2.5-billion plan to get more people to pay TV licence fees.BMIT was selected to develop the public broadcaster’s new funding model, and presented its findings in a meeting with the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies in February 2026.BMIT managing director Chris Geerdts presented the firm’s preliminary report, explaining that the SABC required a combination of commercial revenue and public funding.He said BMIT considered various household fees, government grants, an individual levy, “innovative options”, and even a scheme in which the SABC would not receive any tax funding.Until the SABC’s new funding model is implemented, the public broadcaster is trying to generate as much revenue as possible from TV licence fees.It plans to gamify its free streaming service, SABC+, to encourage more people to pay their TV licences. However, it told MyBroadband that it could not yet share details on how the strategy would work.The public broadcaster’s head of communications, Mmoni Ngubane, said it was exploring innovative techniques to increase engagement on the SABC+ platform..Read more:.Britain's civic breakdown? SA got there first — 85% TV licence evasion rate and R467bn unpaid municipal bills.“Some of these initiatives will ease TV licence payments and also assist with the high non-compliance rate,” Ngubane said.She added that the initiative’s pilot testing had proven successful and resulted in an increase in audience engagement with content on SABC+.“As this is part of the business strategy, the SABC is not at liberty to discuss this detail in the public domain,” Ngubane said.In mid-September 2026, Malatsi revealed that the public broadcaster had spent R2.5 million testing the strategy.SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli first announced plans to gamify the SABC+ platform in June 2026, which was when the pilot project commenced..This article was first published by MyBroadband and is republished with permission..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

SABC's TV licence era nears its end as new funding model due by March 2027

Related Stories

MAILBOX: What does South Africa lose when a velodrome becomes an entertainment arena?

Can three new laws break SA's "political economy of inefficiency"?

Hartford: The rainbow fades - how SA’s non-racial dream is giving way to fragmentation and fear

Scrap the Public Protector? A retired brigadier makes the case for a permanent Madlanga