• SABC owes over R1B to Sentech, faces signal cutoff

• Debt crisis tied to failed reforms, aging infrastructure

• Digital migration delays cost R1.23B, strain ongoing operations

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) could face a signal blackout before the end of the year as its debt to the state-owned signal distributor, Sentech, has exceeded 1 billion rand (about $57 million).

Khusela Diko, chair of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, warned on Monday, September 8, that Sentech could no longer absorb the public broadcaster’s debt. Nomsa Chabeli, SABC's CEO, confirmed the dire situation. "We are now at a point where Sentech has indicated that they will begin switching off due to unpaid debt," Chabeli stated. Sentech claims it loses more than 70 million rand per month by distributing signals for which its main client, the SABC, has not paid.

The contentious relationship between the two entities dates back to 2020-2021, when the SABC filed a complaint with the Competition Commission over what it considered excessive fees. That complaint was dismissed, and mediation is now ongoing under the Ministry of Communications.

The debt to Sentech is just one symptom of a deeper crisis. The SABC is grappling with aging infrastructure and an unstable funding model. A proposed SABC Bill, introduced in Parliament in 2023 to reform the television license fee system, was withdrawn in November 2024 by Minister Solly Malatsi, who deemed it "flawed."

"When we spoke about the SABC and we said, among others, that the withdrawal of the SABC bill is sounding a death knell on the institution, we were told we were being alarmist," Diko said. She noted that the bill remains stalled in Parliament and called for its urgent consideration to address the broadcaster's financial and operational challenges.

Compounding the issue is the nation's digital migration project, which is more than a decade behind schedule. This delay forces Sentech to maintain both analog and digital signals simultaneously, a "dual illumination" that has cost 1.23 billion rand over the last ten years, according to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Technologies.

Diko stressed that the implications go beyond the broadcaster's balance sheet. "Jobs, livelihoods and the sustainability of both the public and the community broadcasting sector are at risk," she said.

Servan Ahougnon