Why the Only Way Forward Is Full Privatisation of the SABC
International examples show that South Africa should not partially privatise the SABC.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is facing a critical financial crisis (again), with a reported funding gap of R7.03 billion over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. Despite slight improvements in audit outcomes, the broadcaster's financial sustainability remains in jeopardy, as recently highlighted by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA).
This shortfall threatens the SABC's ability to fulfill its public broadcasting mandate, which includes (at least in theory) providing diverse and informative content to all South Africans and in its variety of languages. The current funding model, heavily reliant on declining TV license fees and commercial revenue, is no longer viable. TV licences as a system is so archaic and regressive it’s almost funny. Except it punishes poor households the most and costs more to enforce than it recovers. In a world of fibre and 5G, it’s about as sensible as a tax on cassette players.
So it’s time to be blunt about the SABC. No amount of restructuring, tinkering, or overhauls will fix what is fundamentally broken. The broadcaster is a relic of a bygone era, staggering from bailout to bailout. The only honest solution is full privatisation, not a partial sell-off, not a public-private partnership, but a complete clean break through full privatisation. Anything less is wishful thinking and clinging to the dead ideological idea of a state broadcaster.
South Africa should not pretend the SABC can be reformed within its current shape. It’s had three decades to prove otherwise. The idea that we can somehow keep it alive through another round of government funding or board reshuffles is simply political theatre. Much like the TV viewing on offer at the SABC we’ve seen this before and it ends the same way every time.
Struggles at the SABC
Back when I was in private legal practice, I represented a number of actors with claims against the SABC, mostly unpaid fees for reruns of old shows and films they’d appeared in. These weren’t complex cases. The broadcaster had simply lost the contracts, or the invoices, or both. It wasn’t malice but just pure administrative dysfunction part of a broader pattern where the basics of doing business, like paying artists or honouring agreements, seemed beyond the organisation.
What’s wrose is the so-called “public broadcaster” can’t even meet it’s own internal payroll some months. If this were a private company, it would have folded years ago. But because it's state-owned, it lingers on propped up by public money and defended by sentimentalism about its imagined role in nation-building.
Post-1994, the SABC was meant to transform into an independent public broadcaster. That dream barely lasted a decade. Board appointments became political handouts for cadres, news coverage started toeing ideological lines, and journalists found themselves shown the door.
And the financial failure has consequences outside of the SABC. It regularly fails to pay local content producers, it bungles sports broadcasting rights, or it fudges around with its news programmes. Good people have tried to fix it. Some even made small dents. But the structure itself is too broken to salvage.
The Digital Age Doesn’t Need a State Broadcaster
The old justification for the SABC was that it ensured access to information in places where private media didn’t reach. That was true once. But South Africa isn’t in the 1980s anymore. Over 95% of the population has mobile phones. Streaming, online news, podcasts, these are where people go for content now, especially the young. This means that the SABC isn’t just behind the curve but it’s not even on the same graph.
Meanwhile, independent outlets are producing far more credible public interest journalism than the SABC has managed in years and doing so without government subsidies, although some of these independent outlets are themselves struggling financially. But these platforms show that robust journalism doesn’t require state control. It needs a level playing field, editorial independence, and a public that sees value in the work.
Increasingly, some of the most immediate, ground-level reporting comes not from state studios or even the independent platforms but from laymen reporters in communities posting on social media. And this gives government a clue as to where public investment should shift. Not toward propping up a failing institution, but toward cheaper data, better broadband, and a media environment where quality can compete and thrive.
Global Lessons
When state broadcasters overseas have been privatised properly (fully, not halfway) the results have often been impressive. France’s TF1 tripled its revenue and became a market leader. Argentina’s Telefe held the top spot for two decades after its privatisation. These weren’t miracles or outliers. They were the result of unleashing competition and removing the dead hand of the state.
By contrast, the halfway houses (partial sales or partnerships) tend to fail. Russia’s Channel One kept the state in control and remained subsidy-hungry. Zambia’s TopStar deal turned into a debt trap. The Philippines tried to sell part of its broadcaster and ended up with layoffs, cancelled shows, and eventual collapse. These cases all have a common thread, namely that trying to have it both ways ends up with the worst of both.
South Africa should learn from these missteps. If we sell off only a portion of the SABC, we’ll keep the political meddling and the inefficiencies while chasing the illusion of reform. Investors will stay away. The public will lose what little trust it has left. The only real solution is complete privatisation.
What Would a Real Reform Look Like?
But privatising the SABC doesn’t mean gutting public interest media. It means freeing up the space for it to grow on its own terms. Government’s role should shift from content producer to infrastructure enabler. Expand affordable data access. Support independent content creators through transparent grants. Create a regulatory environment that protects media freedom and diversity, not state dominance.
And let the market decide what kind of broadcaster South Africans actually want. Maybe a privatised SABC survives, maybe it doesn’t. But at least it will have to earn its audience, not demand it through state coercion.
A truly democratic media landscape doesn’t need gatekeepers in Auckland Park. It needs competition, accountability, and freedom.
The SABC isn’t too big to fail. It already has. We must let it go, and see what else might grow in its place.
More articles:
If you found this piece worthwhile, feel free to share it with someone who might appreciate it.
To get future essays delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe here:
I welcome thoughtful conversation—feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or follow along on Twitter.
An edited version of this article was published on BusinessLive. If you'd like to support my writing please subscribe and consider a pledge.
This cover image was created using ChatGPT.