The SABC has urged people to immediately report anyone claiming to be a TV licence inspector seeking access to private homes, warning that such individuals are not employed by the public broadcaster and may be criminals.
The SABC said on Tuesday it had reacted to a message circulating on social media alleging that people were posing as TV licence inspectors to gain entry into homes before robbing residents.
SABC spokesperson Mmoni Ngubane said the corporation had not appointed any inspectors or officials to conduct home inspections of television sets. She urged the public to report anyone claiming to represent the SABC for the purpose of inspecting TV licences to the police.
Ngubane emphasised that the SABC communicates with TV licence holders only through official and secure channels, adding that door-to-door inspections are not part of the broadcaster’s processes.
The warning follows a similar incident on Christmas Day last year, when the SABC’s official X account cautioned the public about a fake letter circulating online.
The document falsely claimed that the broadcaster had deferred payments to producers and service providers due to cash flow challenges.
The scam warnings come as the SABC continues to face severe financial strain.
During a briefing to parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) in May last year, SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli told MPs that the broadcaster was being “stretched to breaking point”.
Chabeli said public funding for the SABC was dwindling, forcing the broadcaster to increasingly rely on commercial revenue to meet its public service mandate, which she described as unsustainable.
“Only about 13% of our revenue comes from TV licences and that percentage continues to drop each year,” said Chabeli.
She said the SABC receives no direct funding for its core public broadcasting responsibilities despite being mandated to deliver essential programming to millions of South Africans across many languages, provinces and socio-economic backgrounds.
“We have to take commercial revenue and use it to fund public broadcasting. This puts a huge strain on our operations,” she said.
She further pointed out that fewer than 20% of households in South Africa that are required to pay for TV licences actually do so, contributing to a steady decline in revenue.
“Fifty-five percent of our mandate costs are funded, and they are funded by declining licence fees. Fewer than 20% of households that should be paying for a TV licence actually do,” said Chabeli.
Meanwhile, uncertainty about the SABC’s future has been compounded by the withdrawal of the SABC Bill from parliament by the minister of communications and digital technologies, Solly Malatsi, last year.
The decision sparked widespread debate, with the chair of the parliamentary committee, Khusela Sangoni Diko, expressing concern about the lack of formal communication, while deputy minister Mondli Gungubele, who introduced the bill in October 2023, also voiced disappointment.
Malatsi announced that he had withdrawn the bill which had been in development since 2018 and had gained momentum after its introduction to parliament in October 2023.
The bill was intended to address the SABC’s long-standing financial and governance challenges but Malatsi said it failed to provide a credible funding model for the broadcaster’s long-term sustainability.
Malatsi also criticised the bill’s proposed delayed funding mechanism, which would have given the minister up to three years to develop a sustainable financial framework for the broadcaster.
TimesLIVE
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