Categories: South Africa

SABC warns of ‘would-be-robbers’ posing as TV licence inspectors

SABC warns of ‘would-be-robbers’ posing as TV licence inspectors

Picture: Tracy Lee Stark

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The South African Broadcasting Corporation has issued a warning to the public about “would-be-robbers” posing as TV license inspectors in Johannesburg west.

In a statement released on Friday, the public broadcaster said it “noted with concern a WhatsApp message doing the rounds warning members of the public, particularly in the Weltevreden area west of Johannesburg, of would-be-robbers posing as SABC TV License agents”.

“The SABC wishes to inform the public that it has not appointed inspectors or officials for purposes of physical inspections of television sets from households. Any person that claims to be an SABC official or agent in order to gain access to a house or premises must be reported to the police as they do not represent the SABC,” the broadcaster said.

The cash-strapped entity’s board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini admitted earlier this month that the public broadcaster employees may not get their 13th cheque this year and may be without salaries in January.

He said the state broadcaster’s debt stands at R1.3 billion.

ALSO READ: SABC on the verge of total collapse, owes almost R700m

It was reported in August that the broadcaster was considering a number of cost-cutting measures and that would include retrenchments as the SABC currently has a salary bill of R3.1 billion.

In September, Deputy Communications Minister Pinky Kekana urged the public to pay their TV licenses in a bid to get more funding for the cash-strapped broadcaster.

In the same month, the SABC revealed that it had nine million TV license accounts registers on its database but only 1.8 million of those were paying their TV licenses.

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Published by
By Batandwa Malingo
Read more on these topics: South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Limited (SABC)
6 years ago