South Africa’s national broadcaster, the SABC, is facing serious financial trouble, according to Khusela Sangoni Diko, Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies.
Speaking to the media on Monday, 8 September 2025, Diko painted a worrying picture of a broadcaster teetering on the edge of collapse.
Outdated Model and Mounting Debt
Diko highlighted that the SABC’s current funding model is no longer sustainable.
With declining TV licence revenue and competition from free digital platforms like YouTube, the traditional approach to financing the broadcaster is quickly becoming obsolete.
She stressed that there is no infrastructure in place to ensure long-term viability, leaving the SABC at risk while other state-owned entities continue to struggle under similar pressures.
Red Ink Despite Valuable Assets
While the SABC holds R4.09 billion in assets, it owes R4.12 billion, putting it nearly R40 million in the red.
Despite this, the broadcaster still employs more than 2,000 full-time staff, each earning an average of R55,000 per month.
Senior management salaries are even higher, reaching up to R1.5 million annually, raising questions about whether taxpayer funds could be better allocated elsewhere.
Diko described the broadcaster as “burdened with unsustainable debt, outdated infrastructure that hasn’t been upgraded in decades, and a broken funding model rooted in an analogue era.”
R70 Million Losses Every Month
Adding to the strain, Sentech—the company responsible for distributing the SABC’s signal—reports losing over R70 million every month subsidising the broadcaster’s operations.
Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has been urged to step in and address the financial and operational issues, but Diko criticised the lack of progress.
“It’s been more than six months that we agreed to stand down as a committee to allow Minister Malatsi to deal with it, and nothing has been done.
We’re urging the Minister to not hide behind bureaucratic red tape,” she said.
Questions About the Future
With the SABC facing mounting debt, outdated technology, and declining revenue, the question now is what happens next.
Should the broadcaster be restructured, privatised, or receive urgent government bailouts? Public debate is growing as the crisis deepens, and the eyes of South Africa are firmly on both Parliament and the Communications Ministry.