Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni Says TV Licences Are Impacting SABC’s Survival

• The African National Congress' Khumbudzo Ntshavheni believes the proposal to switch the TV licence fee for a household levy will be helpful
• The communications minister believes the levy will strengthen the South African Broadcasting Corporation since the TV licence fee was not working
• She said the public broadcaster must be strengthened since the TV license is impacting the national broadcaster's ability to survive

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress' proposal to switch the TV licence fee for a household levy has garnered mixed reactions. However, Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni believes the levy will strengthen the broadcasting sector.

Ntshavheni said the TV licence fee was not working and is affecting the national broadcaster's ability to survive. According to TimesLIVE, the proposal raises the issue that the South African Broadcasting Corporation has bought a commercial and public mandate.

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The SABC would be funded through the public mandate by national fiscus and household levies. Ntshavheni said the SABC commercial sector should be able to compete in the way that commercial broadcasters compete.

The minister was speaking at a post-conference briefing this week and said the ruling party plans to go ahead with the proposal. She said the public broadcaster must be strengthened since the TV license is impacting the SABC's ability to survive.

The shift from the TV licence fees comes in response to the SABC's continuous decline in revenues from TV licence payments, Business Tech reported.

South Africans react to the household levies proposal:

@Derek_Geddes said:

"They should get better shows and offerings to attract more advertisers."

@Ashkilla2 wrote:

"Hang on, isn't this the minister who spent millions of OUR MONEY on hotels a while back? She should know a thing or two about wasting money mxm."

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@Generalspitjo commented:

"Hai I don't blame people for not paying it."

@ThatguyToe added:

"Just shut down the SABC honestly."

New laws could change the fact that TV licences aren't being paid for

In a related matter, Briefly News also reported the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is expecting to continue facing issues surrounding the collection of TV licences. This comes as South Africans are reportedly refusing to pay the fees necessary.

The SABC said during a presentation that they collected around R200.7 million during Q4 which was supposed to be around R293.7 million. This makes R92.9 million shortfall against the budget.

Source: Briefly News