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The Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies has called for greater public funding of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to allow the public broadcaster to deliver optimally on its legislative public service mandate. 
 
The committee expressed this view on Tuesday after briefing from the SABC on its progress in implementing its performance and turnaround strategy.
 
The SABC’s public mandate is funded partly up to 56% through government grants, which account for 45% of this, with TV licences at 11%. In the current financial year alone, the unfunded mandate will cost R2.1 billion, which includes R829 million for content, R453 million for signal distribution and R886 million for operational overhead allocations. The SABC generates up to 83% of its revenue from commercial activities, including selling of airtime, content exploitation and advertising.
 
The committee chairperson, Ms Khusela Sangoni Diko, said that the SABC’s funding matter is a burning platform which, if left unresolved, poses an urgent existential crisis to the public broadcaster.
 
To this end, the committee supports greater public funding of the SABC and calls on the public broadcaster together with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies to take the opportunity presented by the SABC Bill currently before Parliament to suggest funding options for the committee’s consideration.
 
“The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies should work hard to foster public and private partnerships, as well as coming up with ways to regulate over-the-top services,” said Ms Sangoni Diko.
 
Meanwhile, the committee congratulated the SABC on significant progress in implementing its performance and turnaround strategy. The committee has noted a projection of reduced financial loss from R1.1 billion incurred in the 2023/24 financial year to R500 million by the end of the current financial year.
 
Lastly, the committee welcomed the department’s intervention to mediate between the SABC and Sentech on the R1 billion debt owed to Sentech.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the chairperson of the Portfolio committee on Communication and Digital Technologies, Khusela Sangoni Diko