Business · South Africa
SABC Lacks Funds to Cover Local Government Elections
TechCentral · 2026/02/09
Summary
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has said it cannot afford to cover the upcoming local government elections because it did not receive the requested funding from the National Treasury. The SABC asked for R120 million to support election coverage, but the National Treasury rejected this request. Without this funding, the public broadcaster may struggle to provide extensive and quality coverage of the important elections, which help citizens stay informed about local government activities and candidates. This situation highlights the financial challenges faced by the SABC, which has been dealing with money problems for a while. Limited coverage could affect how many South Africans get election information from public media, putting more pressure on other news sources.
OnABudget takeaway: For South Africans, this means less free election information on public TV and radio, so you may need to rely more on online news or other media, which could sometimes cost money or data. Small businesses and investors should closely watch how these budget cuts affect news coverage, as less public information might impact understanding of local government decisions.