Tue 20 October 2020:
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has proposed new regulations to charge South Africans a TV licence for using streaming services like Netflix.
The public broadcaster argued that the definition of a TV licence is oudated and needs to be ajusted to current realities.
Deputy Communications Minister Pinky Kekana made the remarks in a presentation to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications.
Kekana said during the presentation that the government’s proposal to help the SABC improve its financial position would include allowing the public broadcaster to collect licence fees from non-TV users.
“Including engaging with those who have been carrying the SABC programmes on their pay-TV, how do we through ICASA make sure that they too are able to assist us to collect TV licences?” Kekana said.
“But we are not only limiting it to TV. We also have other platforms where people consume content and in all of those areas, that is where we should look at how we are able to get SABC licence fees from those gadgets.”
This means that the SABC wants users who watch content on devices such as laptops and smartphones to also pay licence fees.
The SABC said that regulation is needed which would require pay-TV service providers like MultiChoice (DStv) and video on demand providers like Netflix to collect TV licences on behalf of the SABC.
Under this new proposal, those who consume media on tablets, laptops and phones will also be charged by SABC.
Meanwhile , a TV licence in South Africa cost about R265 annual fee for first time applicants
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
