Finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced in his budget speech on Wednesday a special appropriation for the department of communications & digital technologies to the tune of R700-million.
The budget vote document for the department indicates this appropriation forms the bulk of a once-off R889-million allocation for state-owned signal distributor Sentech.
“A decrease of 14.9% (R1.7-billion) in the department’s baseline over the medium-term expenditure framework period is due to higher spending in 2025/2026 as a result of R1-billion that was rolled over for phase 2 of the SA Connect project and one-off allocations to Sentech amounting to R889-million for dual illumination, which is the cost of operating both digital and analogue systems due to the delay in switching off the analogue broadcasting signal (R189-million); and assistance with broadcast transmission costs (R700-million),” the communications department said in the document.
The allocation comes amid an ongoing dispute between Sentech and the SABC over a yearslong backlog of unpaid distribution fees amounting to some R1.6-billion. The SABC has previously accused Sentech of monopoly pricing, claiming that Sentech’s year-on-year increases in signal distribution fees were excessive.
Industry experts have expressed similar concerns, noting that Sentech’s fees where it does not enjoy a monopoly – in satellite, for example – are much lower compared to what it charges for terrestrial signal distribution.
Communications minister Solly Malatsi has appointed a mediator in attempts to resolve the impasse and an outcome is expected in March. Sentech has previously indicated to parliament’s portfolio committee on communications & digital technologies that there is a risk of a national TV blackout should it not receive payment form the SABC or the funding it needs to finance ongoing signal distribution costs.
Read: Sentech is in dire straits
In a post-budget interview with SABC News, Malatsi said that in an application to national treasury, the communications department motivated for the allocation as direct relief of the debt the SABC owes to Sentech.
“As part of our submission to the minister of finance, we had expressed where our most immediate pressures were. Part of its was the historic SABC debt to Sentech. The engagement we had had prior to the announcement today was that the R700-million would be earmarked towards clearing the SABC debt at Sentech primarily to ensure that, from a liquidity perspective, we keep operations ongoing over there,” said Malatsi. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
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