Dear Editor,
I never understood the technicalities and the legal justification as to why SABC is entitled to collect licence fees for me owning a television set, nevertheless I accepted and let it slide as a law in our country.
But now I got worried and perplexed on reading an article on the SABC's plans to attempt harder to milk the public in order to collect more revenue.
Apparently the SABC wants to charge a licence fee for mobile television, generate income by getting its hands and managing Multichoice's database of clients not paying SABC licences or letting Multichoice collect licence fees on its behalf.
As a Multichoice customer, I would not want SABC having anything to do with my DStv account. As far as I'm concerned I have an agreement with Multichoice, not SABC.
It does not make sense to me that I have to pay an SABC TV licence even though I have no interest in watching SABC, why should I be paying a fee to keep the SABC running whereas it doesn't serve any of my interests. For me, it's no different to paying a landline connection fee simply because I use a cellphone.
I can imagine that some people might accuse me of bashing SABC because I can afford to pay for DStv but it is my choice not to watch SABC, not only because there is hardly anything worth watching but because I will only pay for a service I requested.
If a TV licence is an operating permit for a television set, shouldn't the license be collected by an independent body from the public broadcaster? This would make sense regardless of whether one watches SABC, eTV or DStv. As already stated I do not know the legal reasoning for a TV licence but perhaps this regulation needs to be revisited, it seems this was legislated many ages ago when there was no other television service available and the public broadcaster was entitled to every television right. We cannot be held hostage by the public broadcaster to pay TV licence thou we have no interest or use for SABC.
I would not mind paying a TV licence if it's required to own a TV set but I do mind being forced to pay an SABC TV license while I do not watch SABC, if anything they should consider taking off their service for people who do not wish to pay for SABC.
Cypro Mailula
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Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.