Chairpersons of Parliament’s Economic Cluster delivered a stark warning during a media briefing on Tuesday, stating that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is “teetering on the brink of collapse” due to a severe financial and operational crisis.
The briefing, which also covered issues pertaining to Postbank, critical minerals, illegal mining, and state property debt, took a urgent turn as the focus shifted to the public broadcaster.
Khusela Diko , the Chair of the Communications Portfolio Committee, issued a dire assessment of the SABC’s situation, revealing that the broadcaster is burdened by unsustainable debt, outdated infrastructure, and a broken funding model. The committee accused the government of delay and inaction, which it claims is pushing the institution toward failure.
A critical point of concern is the financial strain on Sentech, the state signal distributor. Diko revealed that Sentech is “bleeding more than 70 million rand per month to subsidize SABC’s broadcast signal costs,” a situation he described as “unsustainable.”
The committee squarely placed the blame on the stalled SABC Bill, which it deems essential for ensuring the broadcaster’s long-term sustainability. Diko refuted past claims that the committee was being “alarmist” for criticizing the withdrawal of the bill, stating the current crisis proves their concerns were valid.
“Jobs, livelihoods, and the sustainability of both the public and the community broadcasting sector is threatened,” Diko stated. He expressed the committee’s “deep concern” over the “prolonged and unnecessary delay” in processing the critical legislation.
The committee has grown impatient with the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), to whom they wrote two weeks ago demanding urgent action. Diko noted that it has been over six months since the committee agreed to pause its own processes to allow the minister to resolve the challenges, yet “not much, if anything, has been done.”
“We are urging the minister to once again finalize this process and not hide behind bureaucratic red tape,” he said.
Furthermore, the committee is calling for direct financial intervention, clarifying that the SABC is not seeking a bailout but rather a necessary government investment. They have urged the DCDT to engage with the National Treasury to secure sustainable investment for the broadcaster, which has not had a technology or infrastructure refresh in over a decade.
“Government has a responsibility to invest in this strategic asset and recapitalize it where necessary. The time for decisive action is now,” Diko concluded before moving on to other matters addressed in the cluster’s statement.
The warning underscores a growing crisis for South Africa’s public broadcaster, with its future now the subject of intense scrutiny and urgent calls for intervention from the highest parliamentary committees.