The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will move ahead with its plans to increase TV licence fees.<\/p>\n
Presenting in parliament on Tuesday (17 September), SABC board chairperson Bonamisa Makhatini said that the national broadcaster could not continue to run on the equivalent of 72 cents a day.<\/p>\n
“How much do you pay a guy who is looking after your car at a parking mall? Surely you pay them more than 72 cents? There are more South Africans who can afford to pay R1 a day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “If you won’t pay a guy who looks after your car 72 cents, what about the SABC which gives you 19 radio stations, five TV channels, and who plays such a critical mandate in educating, informing and entertaining our general public.”<\/p>\n He added that it may be possible to change legislation at a later date to protect the country’s indigent people from fee increases.<\/p>\n While Makhatini did not comment on how much the SABC was looking to increase licence fees,\u00a0 raising fees to R1 a day would see an effective increase of R100 from the current annual fee of R265 to R365.<\/p>\n This change can not be made unilaterally by the SABC and would require an amendment of the national broadcasting act as well as permission from the minister of communications.<\/p>\n Compliance<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the key problems with raising TV licences is the issue of compliance with the broadcaster reporting a compliance level of just\u00a027.8%<\/a><\/strong> in October last year.<\/p>\n