The government is still awaiting a final report on various funding options, he added, which will then be interrogated alongside the Minister of Finance to ensure they are fair and feasible, especially for households with limited income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report was initially expected to be delivered in December, but the firm was given an extension to 6 February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malatsi said that the delay was due to several engagements and consultations with various stakeholders that had to take place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Combined with the disruption of the end-of-year holiday period, the department decided to extend the deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The matter remains critically urgent, however, as the SABC remains under severe financial pressure\u2014and without a suitable funding model, is at risk of collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malatsi noted that one of the biggest issues for the SABC is that, despite its importance, it is not in the same position it was 30, 20 or even 10 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under its current model, the broadcaster relies on funding from advertising and the payment of TV licences. However, these areas have been in significant decline, necessitating state bailouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When we look at (the SABC), we see that funding is difficult; advertising is declining, TV licenses have all but collapsed,” Malatsi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less than 20% of viewers actually pay their TV Licences, he said, showing a mass rejection of the scheme. There have also been significant challenges with enforcing licences and collecting debt owed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TV licence fee avoidance rates have grown from 69% in 2019 to 85% in 2025, and even the broadcaster\u2019s CEO and board chair have acknowledged that the scheme has failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New system incoming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Solly-Malatsi--1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSpeaking about the way forward, the minister said that whatever system replaces the TV Licence, there are fundamental challenges that need to be addressed: primarily, collection and enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the proposals put forward has been a household tax or levy collected by the South African Revenue Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malatsi stressed that this is not a government position and is just one of the many ideas that have been “ventilated” in the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said there would be more certainty once the BMIT report has been submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he did say that, given the general outlook of the economy and disposable income among households, the idea of any additional tax would likely not gain favour with residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think we saw this particularly around the discussion on the VAT increase in 2025 and the kind of debate that it sparked,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think the ultimate conversation is going to be about whether there is any contribution from users and consumers of broadcasting, the formation of whatever amount it will be, and how that is collected or contributed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring again to the problems with the TV Licence, Malatsi said that the public has already shown an unwillingness to comply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said this is not limited to TV Licences but is also prevalent in other industries, such as electricity, referring to illegal connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As with other areas of non-compliance, when there is a perceived lack of enforcement, it becomes far easier not to ignore legislated requirements. However, if consequences follow, compliance tends to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For instance, motor vehicle licenses, compliance is high because you know if you haven’t paid for your motor vehicle license and you get stopped by the cops, then you’re in trouble,” the minister said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Communication and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi says that South Africa’s TV Licence regime has all but collapsed, and details on a new scheme will be presented to the department next month. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":815413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[20317,10881],"class_list":["post-847433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-solly-malatsi","tag-tv-licence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847433"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847439,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847433\/revisions\/847439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSpeaking about the way forward, the minister said that whatever system replaces the TV Licence, there are fundamental challenges that need to be addressed: primarily, collection and enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the proposals put forward has been a household tax or levy collected by the South African Revenue Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malatsi stressed that this is not a government position and is just one of the many ideas that have been “ventilated” in the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said there would be more certainty once the BMIT report has been submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he did say that, given the general outlook of the economy and disposable income among households, the idea of any additional tax would likely not gain favour with residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think we saw this particularly around the discussion on the VAT increase in 2025 and the kind of debate that it sparked,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think the ultimate conversation is going to be about whether there is any contribution from users and consumers of broadcasting, the formation of whatever amount it will be, and how that is collected or contributed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring again to the problems with the TV Licence, Malatsi said that the public has already shown an unwillingness to comply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said this is not limited to TV Licences but is also prevalent in other industries, such as electricity, referring to illegal connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As with other areas of non-compliance, when there is a perceived lack of enforcement, it becomes far easier not to ignore legislated requirements. However, if consequences follow, compliance tends to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For instance, motor vehicle licenses, compliance is high because you know if you haven’t paid for your motor vehicle license and you get stopped by the cops, then you’re in trouble,” the minister said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Minister of Communication and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi says that South Africa’s TV Licence regime has all but collapsed, and details on a new scheme will be presented to the department next month. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":815413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[20317,10881],"class_list":["post-847433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-solly-malatsi","tag-tv-licence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847433"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847439,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847433\/revisions\/847439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}