Speaking
at
the
Media
Alliance
of
Zimbabwe
(MAZ)
annual
stakeholders’
conference
in
Harare
recently,
Minister
Muswere
said
the “whole
government”
had
taken
an approach to
bring down
ZBC
tariffs,
an
acknowledgment
of
the
widespread
concern
from
motorists
and
media
stakeholders.
“We
have
a
whole
government
approach
to
reduce
prices,
that
is,
the
licence
fees
of
ZBC,”
Muswere
said.
“The
reduction
will
be
coming
by
January,
I
am
sure
that’s
when
the
reduction
will
be
finalised.”
His
remarks
follow
intense
backlash
triggered
on
23
May
2025,
when
the
Broadcasting
Services
Amendment
Act
(No.
2
of
2025)
came
into
force.
The
new
law
made
it
compulsory
for
motorists
to
pay
ZBC
radio
licence
fees
when
renewing
vehicle
insurance
or
obtaining
a
ZINARA
licence
disc.
Under
the
current
tariff
structure,
private
vehicle
owners
pay
US$23
per
quarter
or
US$92
per
year,
while
corporate-owned
vehicles
pay
US$50
per
quarter,
amounting
to
US$200
per
year.
The
requirement
applies
even
to
motorists
who
do
not
receive
ZBC
radio
signals,
as
long
as
they
own
a
vehicle
with
a
radio
set.
Those
without
radios
may
apply
for
an
exemption
affidavit
while
motorists
who
do
not
pay
the
licence
fee
are
barred
from
obtaining
insurance
or
a
licence
disc.
The
move
triggered
widespread
criticism,
especially
from
motorists
who
argued
they
were
being
forced
to
subsidise
a
public
broadcaster
they
did
not
necessarily
consume,
while
others
questioned
ZBC’s
content
quality
and
its
reliance
on
compulsory
fees.
Reports
estimate
that
Zimbabwe
has
1.2
million
registered
vehicles,
but
only
around
800,000
have
valid
insurance,
suggesting
potential
revenue
gaps
and
compliance
challenges.
ZBC
currently
survives
on
a
combination
of
licence
fees,
limited
advertising
revenue
and
government
grants.
However,
Muswere
defended
the
licensing
framework,
saying
ZBC
plays
a
constitutional
public
service
role
that
requires
predictable
funding
to
sustain
nationwide
broadcasting.
“I
want
to
assure
you…
you
recall
ZBC
is
a
platform
that
serves
as
a
national
broadcaster,”
he
said.
“Resources
secured
from
ZBC
will
be
utilised
for
local
content
production,
the
same
resources
will
be
utilised
to
expand
our
terrestrial
infrastructure,
which
means
all
of
you
as
players
will
benefit
from
the
licence
fees.”
He
said
ZBC
does
not
operate
in
isolation,
but
within
a
broader
broadcasting
ecosystem
that
includes
the
Broadcasting
Authority
of
Zimbabwe
(BAZ)
and
Transmedia,
the
national
signal
carrier,
of
“most
of
the
resources
go
toward
the
expansion
of
the
infrastructure.”
Muswere
said
Zimbabwe
missed
the
International
Telecommunication
Union
(ITU)
deadline
to
migrate
from
analogue
to
digital
broadcasting
by
a
decade
so
the
reforms,
including
licence
fees
were
designed
to
correct
that.
“A
decision
was
made
that
each
and
every
country
should
move
from
analogue
to
digital.
The
deadline
was
in
2015.
We
are
now
in
2025,
we
missed
the
deadline
by
a
decade,”
he
said.
Muswere
said
the
Broadcasting
Services
Amendment
Act
forms
part
of
a
broader
national
digitalisation
and
media
sustainability
strategy,
structured
around
three
pillars,
which
were
licensing
satellite
service
providers
to
expand
coverage,
making
sure
international
players
such
as
DStv
carry
at
least
three
ZBC
channels
and
strengthening
media
sustainability
frameworks
“As
I
indicated,
each
and
every
player
contributes
to
BAZ
a
certain
portion
of
your
licence
fees.
That
automatically
means
you
have
more
resources
to
support
community
stations,”
said
the
minister.
“Part
of
the
licensing
framework
also
allows
the
government
and
ZMC
to
be
able
to
conduct
human
capital
development
training
across
all
media
houses.”
Muswere
also
added
that
the
Media
Practitioners
Bill
would
soon
be
finalised
to
distinguish
accredited
journalists
from
citizen
content
creators.
Former
Information
Deputy
Minister
,Kindness
Paradza,
who
attended
the
meeting,
challenged
those
calling
for
scrapping
the
license
fees.
“They
(the
media)
are
talking
about
sustainability
and
want
a
media
fund
and
ZBC
licence
fees
are
going
toward
the
media
fund
that
you
will
be
borrowing
from
and
want
that
to
be
dropped.
What
nonsense
is
that?
You
want
money
from
the
media
fund…,”
Paradza
said.
The
minister
said
as
a
public
broadcaster,
ZBC
is
mandated
to
cover
national
events
that
commercial
stations
avoid.
He
added
that
when
he
assumed
office,
ZBC’s
compliance
rate
was
below
25
percent,
but
the
new
licensing
regime
had
significantly
increased
revenues.
“I
can
indicate
that
millions
have
gone
up
at
the
public
broadcaster.
The
public
broadcaster
has
the
responsibility
to
inform,
educate
and
entertain
the
nation.
But
because
we
liberalised
the
media
sector,
we
also
expanded
the
licensing
framework
for
other
commercial
players,”
he
said.
Muswere
highlighted
the
roll-out
of
Zim
Digital
Phase
Two,
which
will
expand
television
coverage
beyond
the
current
38
percent
and
increase
radio
signal
reach
beyond
62
percent.
“Most
of
those
funds
will
be
utilised
to
support
the
same
ecosystem
in
terms
of
Zim
Digital,”
he
said.
“If
Transmedia
expands
in
terms
of
its
responsibility
as
a
signal
carrier,
it
also
means
the
entirety
of
the
media
sector
is
expanded.”
He
said
the
convergence
of
telecoms
and
broadcasting
had
improved
mobile
penetration
to
over
97
percent
and
funds
from
the
Universal
Services
Fund
would
support
further
expansion.
Muswere
also
said
the
government
was
establishing
10
provincial
content
hubs
under
ZiTESA
to
boost
local
content
production.
“We
also
then
created
a
new
film
industry,
which
totally
collapsed…
I
am
now
happy
and
confident
that
the
public
broadcaster
now
has
the
resources
to
support
the
National
Arts
Cou