Report reveals that majority of unpaid TV licences are owed by Government
The SABC itself had admitted that the TV licence schemes are no longer relevant or providing the large amount of revenue they are supposed to, placing it under significant financial strain.
Put your hand up if you are not surprised that the government owes the government.
In 2025, MyBroadband reported a slight improvement in TV licence payments for the 2024/25 period, as shared by the public broadcaster.
Despite this improvement, only 15% of licence holders paid their TV licence fees.
People might assume that most unpaid licence fees stem from South Africans silently protesting the system by not paying.
As it turns out, according to the Auditor-General (AG) of South Africa’s Report on National and Provincial Government for 2024/25, 73% of unpaid SABC TV licences are owed by government entities and officials.
This means they are accountable for roughly 730,000 of the current 1-million unpaid TV licences.
However, the overall TV licence non-payment rate in South Africa is currently at 85%, and it's not the only thing contributing to the SABC's financial struggles.
The Auditor-General's report also found that the SABC had:
- a R400 million negative cash flow
- around R750 million in unpaid TV licence revenue
- over R10 million in irregular expenditure
- a jaw-dropping R3 billion that is still under assessment
Sentech, the South African state-owned firm specialising in broadcasting signal distribution, has also claimed that it was owed over R1 billion by the SABC and even threatened to switch off the signal.
The SABC has at least conceded that changes are needed and that a new system should be introduced.
SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli said that the current TV licence structure has failed due to a culture of non-payment among South Africans: "People generally don't believe they should have to pay for services. It's not unique to the SABC; we see it with electricity, with water, etc. So we need to understand that there is that culture."
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Image: BusinessTech