The ANC has vowed to scrap the SABC’s contentious TV licence fee, but wants to replace it with a hefty tax on the public.
This is according to Communications Minister, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who addressed the media in her capacity as a member of the ANC.
She provided feedback on the ANC’s national policy conference which took place over the weekend, reports the Weekend Argus.
“The TV licence arrangement is not working, it is actually impacting on the SABC’s ability to survive,” said Ntshaveni, adding that the public broadcaster must be strengthened.
“The SABC has both a commercial mandate and a public mandate.
“In the public mandate, we want the SABC to be funded from the national fiscus, but we are also proposing a household levy,” she said.
The SABC previously recommended that a levy be charged on all households based on the possibility of access to its services, rather than the actual use of its services.
In its annual performance plan, published in May, the broadcaster outlined its plans to introduce a new tax to replace the TV licence fee.
The SABC also believes that the money for the proposed levy should be collected by MultiChoice.
The SABC’s annual report for 2019/20 shows that only 2.5 million licences were paid from a database of 9.5 million licence holders, which produced an income of R791 million.
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