Zimbabwe introduces ‘radio licence’ for cars
Zimbabwe’s new car radio licence is here, and silence just got cheaper.
Remember a few weeks ago when the internet nearly gave us collective heart palpitations with that fake news about the SABC charging us a car radio licence fee?
Yep, people were already calculating how much they would owe every time East Coast Radio played 'Abracadabra' on repeat (A LOT).
Luckily for us, it was all nonsense.
Sadly, our dear neighbours up north in Zimbabwe looked at that rumour and said: “Hold my Castle Lager.”
Zimbabwe has officially gone and done it. On 23 May 2025, President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Broadcasting Services Amendment Act (No. 2 of 2025), making it mandatory for Zimbabwean motorists to pay for a radio license.
It will cost US$92 a year. That’s about R1 680 if you’re counting in rands.
Roughly 800 packets of Nik Naks, if you’re measuring it in important South African currency.
Before you ask, no, you can’t just “forget to pay it.”
This fee needs to be settled before you can renew your license disc or get your insurance sorted.
Meaning if Zimbabwean motorists thought a crack in their windscreen was their biggest car problem—surprise!
Now, their radio is a financial liability too.
A law requiring motorists to buy radio licence before renewing their vehicle licences has been signed into law by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The state broadcaster ZBC set to raise millions of dollars annually pic.twitter.com/yDLIwexvVo
— ZimLive (@zimlive) May 26, 2025
According to The South African, this little radio tax is expected to rake in tens of millions of dollars a year for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).
The same ZBC locals say is basically a 24/7 hype man for Zanu PF.
To put things into perspective:
Zimbabwe has around 1.2 million registered cars, but only 800,000 of those drivers bother renewing their licence discs every year (no judgement, we’ve all been there).
Still, with those numbers, the ZBC stands to pocket around US$73 million (R1.3 billion) annually.
That’s a whole lot of money to make sure you can legally listen to soccer commentary in gridlocked Harare traffic.
Unsurprisingly, Zimbabweans are not loving this. Motorists and opposition leaders have come out guns blazing, saying the fees are ridiculously high.
Others are accusing the ZBC of being more interested in propaganda than actual public service broadcasting.
However, now we ask ourselves: Will this tax actually stick? Or will public pressure crank the volume down on this bizarre bit of legislation?
Only time will tell. In the meantime, if you have friends or family in Zim, maybe send them a care package.
Include snacks, a Spotify gift card, and one of those old-school mini radios with batteries. You know, for legal reasons.
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