SABC warns its future is at risk as delays to key bill drag on

The SABC has bemoaned delays in the finalisation of the SABC Bill, which is meant to provide clarity on the public broadcaster’s revenue model, as it reported a 28% increase in losses for its 2025 financial year.

According to the SABC’s annual report, published on Friday, losses for the year rose by 28% to R253-million, compared with the R198-million loss it reported in 2024.

“It has been clear for some time now that the current licence fee regime no longer has the legitimacy or relevance to South Africans and, in line with shifts globally, needs to be replaced by sustainable and equitable and sustained revenue streams,” SABC CEO Nomsa Chabeli said in the report.

“The challenge is that the SABC cannot fully control or innovate its business model independently. For us to change the licence fee amount and to shift to other sources of revenue requires both a new, innovative funding model and changes to the applicable legislation and regulations to make such a shift a reality.”

Chabeli said the withdrawal of the SABC Bill by communications minister Solly Malatsi last November was “well-intentioned” but has had the adverse consequence of delaying the legislative and regulatory reforms “essential to the ongoing survival and financial sustainability of the SABC”.

The SABC has made strategic moves to futureproof itself as the broadcasting landscape shifts from traditional linear-style viewership to internet-based on-demand alternatives. These initiatives include the July 2024 relaunch of the SABC Plus streaming platform. According to the report, SABC Plus now has more than 800 000 registered users – the number of monthly active users was not disclosed.

Hamstrung

According to the annual report, delays in the finalisation of the SABC Bill make it difficult for the SABC leadership team to make similar strategic decisions regarding the replacement of ageing and obsolete infrastructure, the acquisition of new technologies and the bolstering of its content offering.

The impact of these delays go beyond the SABC itself, with its major stakeholders, especially advertisers, also hamstrung by the resulting uncertainty. SABC chief financial officer Tendai Matore in May told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts that advertisers were not committing to long-term contracts while the SABC Bill remained in limbo, leading to the public broadcaster funding long-term capital expenditure items using its operational expenditure budget.

Read: Pressure mounts on Solly Malatsi as SABC stares down ‘risk of collapse’

At 54%, advertising remains the largest contributor to the SABC’s revenues, with the R2.8-billion collected in 2025 representing a 1.9% decline from the previous year. Although total revenue rose 1.3% to R5.1-billion, sponsorship revenue fell by 8% year on year to R758-million. Revenue from TV licence fee collections rose 10.4%, also to R758-million.

The SABC’s commercial services grew revenue, but its public mandate – another issue meant to be dealt with in the bill – had a negative impact on its bottom line.

“The SABC’s commercial services showed 9.6% growth in revenues, outperforming the market and generating a profit before interest of R145-million. However, the huge cost of the public mandate continues to weigh heavily on the SABC in the absence of an appropriate public service funding model,” said the report.

The communications department announced last month that telecoms consulting firm BMI-TechKnowledge Group (BMIT) had been appointed to develop a new funding model for the SABC. The timeline outlining when BMIT is expected to deliver its proposed solutions is yet to be made public, but whatever BMIT proposes will form part of an updated SABC Bill, which will then be sent to parliament for scrutiny.

The political wrangling over the bill has caused tensions between the ANC and its coalition partner, the DA, with further disputes likely to delay the finalisation of a way forward for the SABC.

Read: BMIT hired to develop new funding model for the SABC

“We remain confident that the critical matter of finalising the SABC Bill, which is central to the corporation’s long-term sustainability, will be concluded with the urgency it warrants, safeguarding the SABC as a national treasure for all South Africans,” said SABC board chair Khathutshelo Ramukumba in the annual report.  – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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