New Plan to Get South Africans to Start Paying Their SABC TV Licences as 'Tax'
- Civil society group named Outa wants the SABC's TV licence system to be completely reformed
- Outa says that the payment of TV licences should be regarded and treated as paying taxes in order to make a collection of payments easier
- The civil society organisation says by virtue of a TV licence being mandatory when purchasing a TV makes it a kind of tax
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JOHANNESBURG - Outa, a civil society organisation, is advocating for a revamp of the SABC's TV licence system. They believe that their proposal will alleviate the national broadcaster's budget problems.
Outa has submitted a proposal to the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies that emphasises on the fact that the TV licence is essentially a tax and should be recognised as such, according to BusinessTech.
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Outa recommends that the TV licence should be incorporated as a tax via a money bill. The incorporation of the TV licence tax will mean that the fee associated with the TV licence will rather be set by the Finance Minister and no longer by the Minister of Communications.
"Outa is of the opinion that television licence fees amount to a tax or revenue in terms of Section 77 of the Constitution," says the organisation.
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The civil society group says that the mere fact that paying for a TV licence becomes mandatory when you purchase a television set is a clear indication that it is a tax.
MultiChoice refuses to add TV licence to DStv bill
MultiChoice is insistent that it will not be involved in the beleaguered South African national broadcaster's persistent troubles collecting TV licence money.
According to Channel24, MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela says the company will not be pulled into the SABC troubles and failures to collect fees.
"Our position is simply very clear: We can't be held responsible for collecting money on behalf of the SABC. The SABC itself needs to find a way to collect such monies," Mawela.
Mawela's comments come after the Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams tabled a new legislation bill that will require pay-TV providers and global video streaming services to collect TV licence fees.
The new bill could also require South Africans who make use of streaming services on their cellphones or tablets to pay for TV licence despite not consuming any SABC content or owning a television set.
SABC TV licence pensioners' discount 2021
Briefly News previously reported that based on the regulations of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), there is a provision for some categories of citizens to enjoy discounted rates on their television licence.
These include those who receive social grants from the state, people who are 70 years or older, disabled people and war veterans.
While you may get this discount as a pensioner, there are certain conditions where it may not apply to you and the most important out of them is if you still receive a pension from the government.
Well, as a pensioner, you are expected to pay TV authorisation just like other people do. The only special consideration that you can enjoy is that, as a pensioner, you can be considered for a concessionary TV licence from the SABC. But then, this will only work if you receive a social grant from the government, or based on your age or health status (being a disabled person).
Source: Briefly News
