The Funding of a Public Service Broadcaster in View of Competition: A South African Perspective

The South African public service broadcaster (SABC) was transformed significantly by the Broadcasting Act 4 of 1999. Since the transformation, there have been many developments that have had an impact on the broadcasting industry, in particular public service broadcasting. The developments in the broadcasting industry left the SABC with serious financial problems. It also had to contend with other problems such as management and the issue of focusing on its mandate. This triggered intervention from the government in an effort to rescue the SABC from the disaster. There is currently a high rate of non-payment of television license fees. Further, the public service broadcaster is competing with commercial broadcasters which make it difficult for the SABC to focus on its mandate. In view of these problems, it is important to explore some of the issues which could resolve some of the problems faced by the public broadcaster. Most recently, the Department of Communications made an announcement about a discussion paper which will focus mainly on reviewing the Broadcasting Act, restructuring and shaping of the SABC.