Parly’s communication committee calls on Malatsi to pass SABC Bill

Parliament has called on Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi to expedite the finalisation and passing of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Bill.

The Bill has been stalled for months due to the Minister’s previous indication of withdrawing it.

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies has argued that the move is unconstitutional.

Committee Chairperson on Communications Calls for Urgent Action on SABC Bill pic.twitter.com/aZj4yIsxPf

— PMG (@PMG_SA) August 27, 2025

The committee’s chairperson, Khusela Sangoni-Diko, has raised a concern that the public broadcaster might not be able to fully function beyond December this year.

“You’re running a multi-billion-rand Corporation and you’re only receiving at this point in time about R193 million from the fiscus, which is nothing. It’s a drop in the ocean when we expect the SABC to fulfill its public mandate. If you look around the world, most public broadcasters are funded from the fiscus. If you were to ask me how much I think where government needs to start is, at least with the infrastructure and the technology refresh of the SABC, that would be in the space of between R1.5 to 2.5 billion,” says Sangoni-Diko.

 VIDEO | SABC Bill Delays, Committee wants clarity from Minister:

Meanwhile, Media Monitoring Africa’s William Bird says the SABC Bill in its current state is not suitable.

He says there is widespread concern that the structures proposed for the SABC will not solve the problems at the public broadcaster.

Bird says Minister Solly Malatsi has put out a tender to look at a new financial model for the SABC, and this is a critical step.