In October, the South African Broadcasting Corporation appointed veteran advertising man Enver Groenewald as the first chief commercial officer in the SABC’s history.
The idea, the SABC said in a statement, “reflects the SABC’s determination to broaden and integrate all aspects of its commercial operations in line with the organisation’s five-year strategy to build long-term financial sustainability”.
The appointment marked “a significant evolution in the Corporation’s strategic approach to revenue generation”.
“Enver Groenewald will oversee not only advertising and sponsorship sales, but also television licence fee collections, alternative revenue streams, partnerships and new commercial opportunities. This consolidated mandate ensures a holistic approach to driving revenue growth and future-fit business practices that can secure the SABC’s role as a sustainable public broadcaster,” it said.
“This appointment also supports the Corporation’s ongoing transformation of its sales operating model, ensuring the SABC is agile, competitive, and aligned with industry best practice.”
The Media Online asked Groenewald’s team about its most important goals for 2026.
Key deliverables for radio advertising
One of the key deliverables for the SABC is to ensure that there are enhanced concerted efforts to strengthen a resilient, innovative and high-performing radio portfolio that will continuously derive advertising revenue.
The SABC has an impressive portfolio of 19 radio stations, and the end goal is to ensure that it continues to be South Africa’s leading source of entertainment, education, and information, and most importantly enhance each radio station’s unique selling proposition to remain attractive to our commercial partners.
Therefore, it is important that the portfolio continues to ensure that SABC experiences significant growth while positioning itself for sustained success as it also embraces the digital era and engages with audiences in real-time, reflecting evolving consumption trends.
SABC’S advertising model
The SABC radio portfolio is a global player, and as such it operates within a very competitive space, and cannot discuss its advertising model.
It is, however, imperative to emphasise that the Corporation is continuously working on its market competitiveness to unlock new commercial opportunities, commercial agility and long-term sustainability.
Vernacular advertising
The SABC’s production studios for recording advertisements in various African languages is operational. The SABC, as a statutory public institution administered and governed by the Broadcasting Act, is tasked to keep the country’s citizens informed, educated and entertained in their preferred languages.
About TV licence fees
The SABC is required to collect television licence fees in line with the Broadcasting Act, No 4 of 1999. The Act, which sets out the SABC’s duties and responsibilities as the country’s national broadcaster, stipulates that a licence is payable for the possession and/or use of a television set.
There are various methods that the SABC is utilising to continue to encourage people to pay television licence fees such as marketing campaigns aimed at outlining the importance of paying and demonstrating the value of the fees collected.
The latest marketing campaign, Your Screen, Your Story is aimed at boosting compliance and encouraging renewals, as well as fostering emotional connections to resonate with the audience’s contribution to telling authentic South African stories.
The SABC has also contracted registered and compliant debt collection agencies to assist in recovering outstanding TV licence fees. This is a revenue tactic to assist with internal capacity and a standard practice aligned with the Corporation’s mandate to collect revenue due under the Broadcasting Act.
The use of external agencies is necessary to manage the scale of outstanding debt.
Although the Corporation is experiencing high evasion rate of TV licence fees, it is important to note that for the 2024-2025 financial year, TV licence revenue grew by 10% year-on-year, supported by improved collection efforts.
