The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has published a proposal to increase TV licence fees.
The SABC’s CFO, Yolande van Biljon, said that a proposal to increases TV licence fees had been drafted and sent to the Minister of Communications, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has now stated that it will oppose this proposal, as it amounts to the taxation of already over-burdened South African taxpayers.
“We call on the public broadcaster to find new revenue streams to stay afloat instead of imposing increases to TV licence fees,” said DA Shadow Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Phumzile Van Damme.
She added that the SABC needs to find innovative measures to strengthen its collection of revenue as poor South Africans will, without doubt, be unlikely to afford increased licence fees.
“The SABC must position itself as a trustworthy and properly managed entity to encourage current TV licence holders to make payments,” said Van Damme.
Furthermore, she said, the broadcaster should explore purchasing content that will attract viewers.
“By doing so, they will see an increase in advertising revenue. Advertising makes up the bulk of the SABC’s revenue, and an increase in advertising will surely be a boost for the SABC,” she said.