Runaround to get concession

ON reaching the age of 70, one becomes eligible for a concessionary TV licence. The current rate is R74, and thus a meaningful reduction and worth having.

So I went along to the post office, but they could not help. I phoned the SABC in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, and was directed to a police station from which I could get an affidavit.

This seemed most odd and unclear, as it was not stated what declaration needed to be made on the affidavit. In frustration I paid a visit to the SABC in PE and was shown a form that needed to be filled in and then taken to the police station.

I went along to the Mount Road police station, where they checked my ID briefly and then stamped the form. I returned to the SABC and paid the fee.

Now the big question for me is that the whole process revolved around my ID and age.

The SABC invoice has my ID number on it and thus it was fully aware of my age, and one would have expected that the concessionary licence fee would have been issued automatically. This would have saved everybody a great deal of work and time.

The second point is why was it necessary for my ID book to be verified by the police? Is the ID book not a trustworthy document? I have to assume that forged IDs must be so common for this extreme measure to be introduced.

All that needs to happen now is for the SABC to connect this form to my account, as this will show an unpaid sum, being the difference between the normal fee and the lower concessionary one. I was assured this would happen.

I am pleased to have this licence, but along the way we incurred so much cost with so many people being involved! Lots of work for people but with such a loss in productivity.

Alan Patrick, Lovemore Heights, Port Elizabeth