Residents bemoan ZBC licences

Bulawayo residents have expressed dismay over Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) Television licences that they are required to pay annually. This comes after ZBC employees, have in the last few weeks, been going around informing residents that they owe the broadcaster US$50 in unpaid licence fees for this year and an additional US$20 in penalties for late payment. What has irked residents most is that most of them no longer tune into ZBC, preferring broadcasts from outside the country that they access through satellite television providers such as Multi Choice. Most Zimbabweans in urban areas have been resorting to satellite television due to poor programming by ZBC. In addition, residents have argued that the television licences are steep taking into account that most people are unemployed while the few that are employed are earning paltry salaries that are below the poverty datum line. Residents also believe that it is unfair for them to financially support ZBC when it is well know that the broadcaster is a state broadcaster as opposed to a public broadcaster and therefore propagandistic in nature. They said there was a need for ZBC to improve its programming, be converted into a public broadcaster and licence fees to be reviewed downwards to cater for residents with low incomes.