There is an elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. South African TikTok creators are working day and night, chasing trends, educating, entertaining, and inspiring millions of viewers.
Yet, there is no Creator Fund, no monetization, no financial recognition from TikTok. People keep parroting the same line: “TikTok has not rolled out monetization in Africa yet.” But what if that is only half the truth?
Let’s unpack it without fear or political correctness.
First, TikTok has rolled out creator funds and monetization programs in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and parts of Asia. African countries, including South Africa, remain excluded.
This is not simply because TikTok hates Africa or because African creators are not talented. It is because monetization policies are subject to local government regulations, digital tax requirements, and revenue-sharing laws.
In short, if TikTok pays creators, the government must have mechanisms to tax them. Without clear regulations, TikTok will not roll out monetization. The same happened with YouTube monetization in certain countries in the past.
Here is where it gets shady. The South African government has been silent about this issue, while creators protest and petition TikTok.
Why is the government not stepping up to fast-track legislation to enable TikTok monetization? Because TikTok monetization threatens the government’s control over economic narratives. Let that sink in.
Imagine if thousands of unemployed South Africans start earning stable income directly from TikTok. They no longer need government social grants. They no longer depend on EPWP jobs sweeping streets for four thousand rands per month.
They become independent digital entrepreneurs, less loyal to the ruling party’s election promises. The government thrives on a population dependent on its handouts and job creation promises. Direct monetization from foreign tech companies bypasses that control. In other words, it is an economic threat to state power structures.
The South African government wants to tax every cent it can. TikTok would be forced to share user earnings data for tax compliance. But the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is not technologically ready to handle microtransactions from hundreds of thousands of creators earning anything between ten rands and ten thousand rands daily from live gifts, tips, and funds.
The system is archaic, stuck in the old model of company payslip taxation. Instead of innovating, the government simply blocks or delays such initiatives under the guise of ‘policy alignment.’
Allowing TikTok monetization opens the floodgates for creators to gain mass influence without state regulation. The government has been battling to regulate influencers, bloggers, and online platforms.
Monetized TikTok creators will wield even greater power, shaping public opinion, questioning political failures, and mobilizing communities without fear of financial repercussions. They can say whatever they want because they are not employed by any corporate fearful of government backlash. This terrifies the ruling class.
Do not forget the Competition Commission’s stance. South Africa is obsessed with regulating “foreign monopolies.” Look at how Uber, Airbnb, and other tech platforms have faced hurdles. TikTok would not be treated differently.
Rolling out monetization requires government approval, compliance with BEE frameworks, digital tax policies, and local bank integrations. If the government truly cared about creators, it would prioritise this. But it doesn’t. Its silence is an answer in itself.
The South African government is blocking TikTok monetization, whether directly through legislation or indirectly by refusing to create enabling policies.
The outcome is the same. Creators remain broke. They keep making content hoping for brand deals, while TikTok sits comfortably, earning ad revenue from African eyes glued to their screens.
This is economic sabotage disguised as bureaucracy.
The real question is: For how long will creators remain silent? For how long will they keep believing PR statements that “monetization has not rolled out in Africa yet” without questioning why?
Creators should be marching to the Department of Communications, demanding clear answers. They should be lobbying the Competition Commission and SARS to create tax codes that accommodate micro-earning influencers. They should be demanding that the government remove regulatory bottlenecks to digital income streams.
Otherwise, the next decade will see the same tragic pattern. African creators will keep giving away their intellectual property, creative energy, and cultural capital to platforms that pay American and European creators while Africans remain the free entertainment labour force.
No politician is going to fight for them. This is their battle to fight. Because while everyone keeps saying the government is not blocking TikTok monetization, the question remains: if it is not blocking it, why is it not enabling it?
Because silence, in this context, is nothing but passive economic oppression.