FPB enforcement nets R16.175m in fines for 21 distributors, The Citizen reports

According to The Citizen, the Enforcement Committee of South Africa’s Film and Publication Board has imposed sanctions on 21 film and game distributors, levying combined fines of R16,175,000 for breaches of registration and classification rules.

Scope of the sanctions

The Citizen reports that the fines targeted a range of compliance failures. Distributors were sanctioned for:

• distributing films and games without registering as distributors;
• distributing films or games that had not been submitted for classification;
• distributing adult films that had not been classified; and
• distributing adult films without the required licence to operate an adult‑premises business.

Penalties and scale

Per The Citizen, the combined value of the fines was R16,175,000. Individual penalties ranged from a low of R150,000 to a high of R750,000, with the largest fines linked to distributing unclassified adult films and operating without the required adult‑premises licence.

How the FPB enforcement process works

The Citizen attributes the regulator’s enforcement steps to the Film and Publication Board. According to that report, when the FPB detects non‑compliance it first issues a compliance notice and gives the distributor 30 days to remedy the breach. Where non‑compliance persists, the matter is referred to the Enforcement Committee, the article quotes Makhosazana Lindhorst, acting CEO of the FPB, as saying.

“Where non-compliance persists, the matter is referred to the Enforcement Committee.”

The Enforcement Committee can adjudicate referred matters and is empowered to impose fines or suspend a distributor’s registration certificate, the report says.

Reporting and dates

The Citizen’s report is dated 18 September 2026. The Citizen is the source cited for the figures, the description of the breaches and the quote from the acting FPB chief executive.

Note on the count of distributors

The Citizen headline used the phrase “more than 21,” while the opening of the same report states that the Enforcement Committee imposed sanctions on 21 distributors; the numerical figure and the combined fine total above are drawn from The Citizen’s reporting.