D-Day for people to have their say on license fee for Netflix
By Staff Reporter
Silindile Nyathikazi
Durban - THE draft bill to extend the payment of TV licensing fees to other streaming services such as Netflix will likely very soon become law.
This is according to political commentator Xolani Dube of the Xubera Institute for Research and Development, who says if the majority party is supported by the smaller opposition parties in Parliament, the bill will pass.
âIn principle, no one is supposed to support this bill but we are fast approaching the elections so itâs a game of politics and everyone has to secure their interests.
As government continues its plan to broaden the definition and collection system for television licences – levying fees on people using computers, smartphones, and tablets – the DA have collected nearly 16 000 signatures in support of their petition to prevent what they deem a “stealth bailout”.
DA collect 16 364 signatures for petition against TV licence amendments
Zakhele Mbhele, the DA’s Shadow Minister of Communications & Digital Technologies said in a statement on that they will now submit the petiition acting Director-General of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, Nomvuyiso Batyi ahead of the Monday 15 February deadline.
He said that the justification of the proposed fees by Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams prove beyond doubt that the scheme is merely a ploy to implement further state-funded bailouts of the struggling South Africa Broadcasting Commission (SABC). Ndabeni-Abrahams said amendments to the TV licence fee section
Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said the government is also planning to implement stronger enforcement and penalties for people who do not pay…
Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams urges viewers to pay SABC TV Licences@Stellarated@SABCNewspic.twitter.com/OUUijrHLlA
However, her efforts have been widely criticised, with the DA urging South Africans not to pay a cent more to keep the public broadcaster afloat.
“The DA strongly opposes the license fee on streaming services. This is effectively an underhanded attempt by the ANC to force South Africans to use their hard-earned money to bail out the SABC.
“It is ridiculous that the government wants to punish South Africans to use their hard-earned money to sustain an entity which the ANC, through their incessant political interference, destroyed.
Petition Launched Rejecting License Fees for Streaming Services in South Africa. Photo: DA
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has launched a petition to oppose the South African government’s plans to extend license fees to streaming services such as Netflix, Showmax, and others.
South Africa is proposing broadening the definition of a ‘broadcasting service’ to including
online broadcasting services. This means that South Africans will have to cough up more money for watching “broadcasting services”, regardless of whether it’s on a TV, a computer or a phone.
The law currently states that consumers must pay a TV licence fee for viewing “broadcasting services”, which includes subscription services like DSTV. When you buy a TV, regardless of whether you watch SABC content on it or not, you must pay a licence fee for any “broadcasting services.” In this sense, “broadcasting service” is limited to content viewed on a TV set.