Media · Contact details
SABC News Contact Details
SABC News takes messages through one form, on sabcnews.com, which asks you to pick between SABC News Editorial, SABC Enquiries and SABC News Technical. It publishes no newsroom email address and no tip-off line. Complaints go to complaints@sabc.co.za, and the corporation’s switchboard is 011 714 9111. The number printed under “Call us” on SABC News is 011 330 9555, and that is the TV licence call centre. We read this on sabcnews.com, sabc.co.za and tvlic.co.za on 25 September 2026.
SABC News contact details at a glance
| News tips, editorial queries, technical faults | The contact form on sabcnews.com |
|---|---|
| Teams you can choose on that form | SABC News Editorial, SABC Enquiries, SABC News Technical |
| Complaints | complaints@sabc.co.za |
| SABC switchboard | 011 714 9111 |
| SABC fax | 011 714 9744 |
| SABC WhatsApp | 060 553 2800 |
| Number shown under “Call us” on SABC News | 011 330 9555, which is TV licences, not the newsroom |
| Newsroom email address | None published |
| Tip-off or whistleblower line for the newsroom | None published |
The number on the SABC News site is TV licences
This is the single most useful thing to know before you dial, so it goes near the top.
The footer of the SABC News site carries a heading that reads Call us, followed by (011) 330-9555, open 08:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays, closed on Sundays and public holidays. Read in that position it looks like a newsroom number.
It is the TV licence customer service line. The TV licence site publishes the same number with the same hours, alongside the TV licence address tvlic.info@sabc.co.za and a postal address at Private Bag X60, Auckland Park, 2006.
So if you ring it to report a story, query a bulletin or chase a journalist, you will reach an agent who handles licence accounts and payments and who has no route into the newsroom. Use the form instead. If your call really is about a licence, you are in the right place and you should have your identity number and licence account number ready. For the full licence contact routes, see the SABC TV licence contact details page.
Choosing the right team on the SABC News form
The form asks for your name and an email address, which are required, and offers fields for a contact number and your message. The one field that decides where it lands is the team:
- SABC News Editorial is the newsroom. Use it for a story tip, a correction to something broadcast or published, or a request to a journalist.
- SABC Enquiries is the general route. Use it when your question is about the broadcaster rather than about a particular story.
- SABC News Technical is for the website and the app. A stream that will not play, a page that will not load, a broken video.
Because the email field is compulsory and the phone field is not, expect any reply to come by email. If you are offering a tip that needs a call back, put the number in the message as well as in the field, and say when you can be reached.
Complaining about something broadcast
Send it to complaints@sabc.co.za, which the broadcaster publishes on both its own site and the news site. It is a role mailbox rather than a person’s, so it survives staff changes, which matters when a complaint takes weeks.
Give the channel or station, the programme name, the date and the approximate time. A public broadcaster runs many services at once, and a complaint that does not say which one it is about cannot be traced back to a recording.
Editorial complaints and technical faults are different queues. Sending a complaint about a bulletin to the technical team, or a broken stream to editorial, adds a hop.
Which SABC News you mean
SABC News is both a 24-hour television news channel and the name of the broadcaster’s news division, which is why a single query can mean several different desks.
The channel sits on DStv channel 404 and on SABC+. The division also produces radio bulletins across the SABC’s stations and the output on sabcnews.com. Saying which one you watched or heard, and when, is what lets editorial find it.
One more thing worth knowing if you go looking on the corporate site: the contacts page at sabc.co.za was serving a blank page when we checked, with no content at all. That is a fault on their side rather than a sign you have the wrong address, and the contact page linked from the news site works normally.
What SABC News does not publish
There is no direct newsroom telephone number, no news desk email address and no named journalist’s contact details, because SABC News does not publish any of them.
Addresses for individual SABC journalists do circulate, and we do not republish them. A reporter’s direct line passed around a directory is the thing that gets reused to impersonate them, and a newsroom that has deliberately put a form between itself and the public has made a decision we do not get to reverse on its behalf.
If your tip is sensitive, think before you send it. The form is an ordinary web form over email, not a secure drop, and it asks for your name and address as required fields.
For the broadcaster as a whole, including licence, office and other corporate routes, see the SABC contact details page. Newsroom contact routes across South African outlets are collected on the newsroom contact details in South Africa page, the media contact pages cover the wider sector, and Sizokthola contact details are on their own page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the SABC News contact number?
SABC News publishes no newsroom number of its own. The SABC switchboard is 011 714 9111 and the SABC WhatsApp number is 060 553 2800. The 011 330 9555 printed under “Call us” on the SABC News site is the TV licence call centre, not the newsroom.
What is the SABC News email address?
There is no newsroom email address; the form on sabcnews.com is the route, and complaints about something broadcast go to complaints@sabc.co.za.
What is the SABC TV licence contact number?
The TV licence call centre is 011 330 9555, open 08:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and 08:00 to 13:00 on Saturdays. That is the same number the SABC News site prints under “Call us”. Its email address is tvlic.info@sabc.co.za and its postal address is Private Bag X60, Auckland Park, 2006. Have your identity number and licence account number ready when you call.
Where do I send the SABC licence department mail?
Written licence correspondence goes to tvlic.info@sabc.co.za or Private Bag X60, Auckland Park, 2006. Those are the licence department routes published on tvlic.co.za.
Does SABC News have a WhatsApp number?
The SABC publishes a corporate WhatsApp number, 060 553 2800. No newsroom-specific WhatsApp line is published.
How do I tip off SABC News about a story?
Use the form on sabcnews.com and choose SABC News Editorial. The form requires your name and email address, so expect a reply by email, and put any call-back number in the message as well as in the phone field.
How do I complain about an SABC programme?
Email complaints@sabc.co.za with the channel or station, the programme name, the date and the approximate time, so the complaint can be traced back to a recording.
Sources
- The contact form on sabcnews.com, for the three teams, the required and optional fields, the complaints address, the switchboard, fax and WhatsApp numbers, the call us number and its hours, and the description of SABC News and its channel (read 25 September 2026)
- The TV licence contacts page on tvlic.co.za, for the same number and hours published as TV licence customer service, with its email and postal address (read 25 September 2026)
- The SABC contact page on sabc.co.za, where the telephone, fax and WhatsApp numbers are labelled, and its contacts page, which returned an empty document (read 25 September 2026)
Where the SABC publishes something different on its own sites, those pages are the authority.