The Eswatini Television Authority (ESTVA) expects to unlock over E5 million annually through its newly launched “No Permit, No Import: Iphi Yakho?” initiative, a major compliance intervention designed to tighten television import controls and improve TV licence enforcement in Eswatini.
The initiative, launched in partnership with the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) on Wednesday at the ERS Headquarters in Ezulwini, will integrate television import permits with Customs HS-code controls to ensure that all television sets and decoders entering the country are linked to valid permits.
Speaking during the launch, ESTVA Chief Executive Officer, Mlamuli Dlamini, described the project as a transformative shift in the broadcaster’s operational approach and financial sustainability strategy.
“The financial implications are transformative,” Dlamini said. “This intervention is expected to unlock in excess of E5 million annually, pushing compliance levels toward 100% at the point of entry.”
The initiative forms part of ESTVA’s broader efforts to strengthen TV licence collection while building a financially sustainable and professionally managed broadcasting institution.
Under the new system, importers who fail to secure valid permits before bringing television sets or decoders into the country will be unable to clear the products at ports of entry.
“We are moving enforcement to the point where it is most effective; at the border,” Dlamini explained. “What this does is close a critical gap in the system. It restores fairness among retailers, strengthens compliance and protects a key revenue stream that the institution depends on.”
The ESTVA CEO further said the new approach will allow the institution to redirect resources away from chasing non-compliance toward managing a system capable of enforcing itself.
“It also allows us to redirect our efforts, from chasing non-compliance to managing a system that enforces itself,” he said.