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SABC on the brink – parliament warns national broadcaster faces ‘imminent collapse’

1y By Staff Bona

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications has warned that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is facing imminent collapse unless urgent reforms are implemented.

According to The Citizen, committee chairperson Khusela Sangoni-Diko told journalists that the broadcaster is buckling under the weight of unsustainable debt, outdated infrastructure and a broken funding model.

She said the SABC Bill, which was withdrawn last year, needs to be reintroduced immediately if the public broadcaster is to survive beyond December.

As reported by IOL, Khusela stressed that this is not a call for a bailout, but for strategic state investment in what she called a “national asset.”

She highlighted that the SABC has not had meaningful infrastructure upgrades in more than a decade, and warned that its signal distributor, Sentech, is losing over R70 million each month subsidising the broadcaster’s operations — an arrangement she described as unsustainable.

According to News24, Diko characterised the situation as a “recipe for disaster,” pointing out that the Department of Communications is still in the process of appointing a service provider to develop a new funding model for the SABC. She cautioned that the tender and evaluation process could take months, while the broadcaster’s financial position is deteriorating rapidly.

The growing crisis has also sparked public concern. As reported by Briefly News, South Africans on social media reacted with alarm to the possibility of the SABC shutting down, with some blaming years of political interference and poor management for its decline.

The committee has urged government to act swiftly, warning that without decisive intervention, the SABC could be forced to close its doors within months.

First published by African Insider

Compiled by Lisabeal Nqamqhele

Also see: Meet Lisa Dumezweni: The new face of SABC isiXhosa News

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