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The South African government owes nearly R60 million in television licenses and advertising fees to SABC.
This was revealed in a written answer from the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams to the parliamentary questions posed by the deputy of DA Phumzile van Damme.
The minister pointed out that a total of 126 provincial departments owe an amount of around R18.7 million, while 20 national departments have outstanding balances in TV license fees for a total of R1.7 million.
R6.3 million remain pending in 249 municipal accounts, while 57 state companies (SOE) have a television license debt of almost R1.6 million.
Combined, these entities owe around R28.3 million to SABC for unpaid TV License fees.
The table below provides a breakdown of the exact amounts owed by each level / category of government.
| Pending TV license fees | |
|---|---|
| Category / level of government | Amount owed |
| National departments | 1,688,295.30 R |
| Provincial departments | R 18,694,129.47 |
| Municipalities | 6,302,170.10 R |
| State enterprises | R1,595,601.76 |
| Total | 28,280,196.63 R |
Advertising debt
In addition to outstanding television license fees, several government entities owe SABC’s sales division for advertising.
This includes three national departments, 24 provincial departments, six municipalities, and eight state companies.
Durban’s Ethekweni Municipality accounted for the largest share of outstanding advertising fees among municipalities (1.18 million rand), while Mopani District Municipality in Limpopo followed with R950,000 in debt.
The Government Information and Communications Services (GCIS), which are under the authority of the Ministry in the Presidency, owe SABC 12.27 million rand, by far the largest amount of any national department.
Regarding the provincial departments, the Limpopo Department of Education was the worst offender, with more than R1.9 million outstanding.
In total, the SABC is owed around R29.2 million in unpaid advertising bills.
The table below shows exactly how much each category / level of government owes.
| Pending advertising bills | |
|---|---|
| Category / level of government | Amount owed |
| National departments | R 13,139,832 |
| Provincial departments | 9,221,629 R |
| Municipalities | R2,343,711 |
| State enterprises | R4,535,975 |
| Total | 29,241,147 R |
The CEO of the SABC Group will intervene
The public broadcaster has repeatedly said that it is struggling with compliance with the TV License, with less than a quarter of South Africans paying their fees in the 2019/2020 financial year.
In her reply, the minister stated that the SABC had told her that it continues to follow its collection processes to collect outstanding debts from government entities by communicating these balances to state departments and companies.
However, it had launched additional “special” campaigns in October with priority on state-owned companies.
“The intervention through the statement of the CEO of the Group is scheduled for distribution in the coming months to all departments and municipalities,” said the minister.
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