SABC needs R120m for elections but minister won’t back bailout
CAPE TOWN — The SABC faces a R120 million shortfall to cover South Africa’s 4 November local government elections, but Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi has declined to support its initial request for additional government funding, saying it failed to meet the legal requirements for emergency expenditure.
The funding dispute comes barely a month before voting day and raises questions about how the public broadcaster will finance election coverage across the country without additional support from the fiscus.
Malatsi disclosed his position in a written response to a parliamentary question from the ANC, which asked whether he would secure the additional funding required by the SABC before the elections.
According to Malatsi, the SABC sought funding through the adjustments budget process, but its initial application did not adequately demonstrate that the money qualified as “unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure”, the standard required for that funding mechanism.
That distinction effectively puts the broadcaster in an unusual position. Its election coverage forms part of a foreseeable public broadcasting responsibility, but the SABC says it does not currently have enough money to fully fund it.
Malatsi also said he cannot simply provide or guarantee the R120 million himself. Section 213 of the Constitution requires money from the National Revenue Fund to be withdrawn through an appropriation by Parliament or as a direct charge where legislation allows it.
The minister stressed that his refusal to support the initial submission did not mean he considered the SABC’s election coverage unimportant. He said he had continued to advocate for the broadcaster’s funding requirements through the appropriate government processes.
The dispute exposes the larger unresolved question of how South Africa funds a public broadcaster expected to provide extensive public-interest programming while remaining commercially sustainable.
The SABC receives government funding, but much of its income is expected to come from commercial activities and television licence fees. Malatsi told Parliament during his May budget vote that the broadcaster would receive R234 million from his department during the 2026/27 financial year. He also said a study into a new SABC funding model had been completed and consultations with National Treasury were underway.
The election shortfall therefore represents more than an isolated request for R120 million.
South Africa’s local government elections require coverage across hundreds of municipalities, political parties, voting stations and provincial and national results operations. For the SABC, fulfilling its public mandate means deploying journalists, technical crews, outside broadcasting facilities and other resources on a national scale.
Parliament had already raised concerns about the issue months ago. During debate on the Communications and Digital Technologies budget in May, MPs warned that clarity was needed on funding for the SABC’s election operations and described the broadcaster as an important institution ahead of the local government elections.
The stakes extend beyond the broadcaster’s finances. Election coverage provides voters with access to candidate and party information, political debates, results and public-interest reporting, including communities where paid television services or reliable internet access may be limited.
Malatsi himself has previously warned that unequal access to information can become a democratic problem. Speaking at the Government Social Media Summit in July, he said democracy depends partly on citizens being able to receive information, test claims and understand their choices.
The immediate question is therefore not whether the SABC should cover the election, but where the additional money will come from if its existing resources cannot absorb the R120 million requirement.
Malatsi’s rejection applies to the broadcaster’s initial funding submission rather than to election funding in principle. That leaves open the possibility of another route being pursued through government and National Treasury.
With polling day approaching, however, the window for resolving that question is narrowing. The SABC has a national election to cover on 4 November, a R120 million gap in the budget for doing so, and, for now, no commitment that taxpayers will provide the additional money.
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