State signal distributor Sentech’s ongoing dispute with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has taken a disastrous toll on its finances.
National Treasury has intervened to provide funding to Sentech, which is no longer a going concern, meaning it is no longer seen as financially stable enough to continue operating for the foreseeable future.
Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, director-general of the communications department, told Parliament on Tuesday that National Treasury had allocated R889 million in adjustment allocation letters.
The department received the latest allocation, which totalled R700 million, on Monday, 9 February 2026, and the funding has been designated for signal distribution.
“National Treasury has given us an additional allocation of R700 million for signal distribution,” she said.
However, she noted that Sentech still awaits the adjustment allocation letter so it can understand the conditions for the funding.
The state signal distributor is set to receive an additional R189 million for the purposes of funding dual illumination.
Dual illumination is the simultaneous transmission of analogue and digital TV signals, which is still in place due to significant delays in the Broadcast Digital Migration project.
“So, the allocation brings it to about R889 million altogether for Sentech. We must not take it as if it’s a special privilege. It should not be seen as a debt write-off,” said Jordan-Dyani.
The state signal distributor and the SABC have been in an ongoing dispute over the latter’s inability to pay signal transmission fees. The public broadcaster owes Sentech roughly R1.6 billion.
However, it isn’t alone; the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa owes R94 million, and community broadcasters owe R34 million combined.
Sentech CEO Tebogo Leshope reminded Parliamentarians that there was an ongoing threat of a SABC blackout in 2025 due to the public broadcaster’s outstanding debt.
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies was forced to allocate R60 million to Sentech to prevent a blackout, which was funded by the department’s other entities.
“At this point, we cannot continue without a minimum of a month-to-month payment. That’s how dire the situation is, and the committee has to note this,” Leshope said.
Handicapped by sister entities
The state signal distributor’s monthly bills to the SABC total R71 million, and for most of 2025, the public broadcaster paid only R20 million per month, which it upped to R30 million in November and December.
Sentech chief financial officer Clarinda Simpson said the public broadcaster has committed to continue paying R30 million per month until the end of March 2026.
She highlighted that Sentech is no longer a going concern, noting that it had “R176 million in the bank” at the time of its presentation before Parliament.
“We are a business enterprise. We are supposed to be self-sustainable, generate revenue, which we are doing,” said Simpson.
However, she explained that Sentech’s sister entities aren’t fulfilling their obligations or servicing their debt, resulting in the dire financial situation Sentech finds itself in.
Sentech joins the ranks of distressed state-owned tech entities, which include the likes of Broadband Infraco and arms manufacturer Denel.
Denel’s financial crisis resulted from historical mismanagement, substantial loss of technical expertise, and systemic corruption during the State Capture era.
In January 2026, two divisions of the once-great Denel reportedly told employees that they wouldn’t receive their salaries that month. However, it later walked back that decision.
Denel’s financial situation is so dire that it has been unable to publish regular annual reports; its last was for the 2019/20 financial year.
Moreover, the report itself was delayed and only made public in February 2021. It revealed that Denel’s revenue had plummeted from R6.02 billion in 2018 to R2.73 billion in 2020.
At the same time, it recorded a net loss of R1.9 billion, which was R493 million higher than the previous year. A decade before, it reported a R111 million profit.
Broadband Infraco, the government’s long-distance backhaul fibre provider, has been technically insolvent since the start of the 2024/25 financial year.
The company has accumulated a R661-million loss over the past five financial years, and its most recent annual figure, reported for the year ended March 2024, was a loss of R202 million.
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