South Africans looking for a deal on a TV during this year’s Black Friday should make sure they have a TV licence and that it is paid up to date well before the big sale arrives. That is according to South African ecommerce giant Takealot, which has warned that taking up a licence on the day of the offer might be too late. Generally, Black Friday deals in South Africa include significant discounts on TVs.
There are already several early Black Friday offers on TVs from Takealot, Game, and Makro, to name a few. Under South African law, a TV licence is required to possess a television set or device capable of capturing broadcast signals.
Retailers selling TVs also have to ask their customers to present their ID number to check it against the SABC’s TV licence database. If the customer does not have one, the stores typically have systems in place to assist the buyer in taking out a TV licence on the spot.
South Africa’s biggest online stores and brick-and-mortar retailers also require an ID number holding a valid TV licence for online checkouts on TVs.
That includes Takealot, Loot, Everyshop, Makro, Game, Incredible Connection, HiFi Corp, Expert Stores, and Kloppers. Takealot and the other stores either require the shopper to present their TV licence during the checkout process or to present it upon delivery.
On Takealot, you must fill out your ID number if you are buying the television for personal use or your company registration number and TV licence number if it is intended for business use.
If you don’t have one, you can take out a TV licence on the SABC’s TV licence application page, which Takealot will direct you to if it detects you don’t have a licence. The licence is R265 per year.
However, Takealot warned it could take a few days for the TV licence to reflect on the SABC’s database, which means Takealot’s systems might not detect that you have a TV licence for a while.
“This is especially true during high-traffic sale periods, such as Black Friday and the Takealot.com Blue Dot Sale, which is why it’s advisable for you to plan ahead and buy a SABC TV licence well in advance to avoid disappointment,” Takealot said.
By the time it does reflect, the Black Friday deal might have sold out or would no longer be valid. If you don’t have a TV licence and aren’t interested in getting one, you are left with another option — buying a large monitor without the built-in TV tuner.
Below are some of the largest monitors you can buy online in South Africa that don’t require a TV licence. We have excluded any models with unconventional wide aspect ratios and only considered monitors that are 43 inches or larger.
Source: mybroadband
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