Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- South Africa will guarantee 1.47 billion rand ($198 million) in loans secured by South African Broadcasting Corp. to help plug a shortfall.

The government will give the broadcaster an immediate guarantee on 1 billion rand of loans, Tiyani Rikhotso, spokesman for the Department of Communications, said in a phone interview from Johannesburg today. The remainder of the loan guarantee will depend on SABC producing a detailed project plan to the government, he added.

“They can now go out and borrow,” Rikhotso said. “If the SABC fails to repay the loans, we will assist. This will go a long way to address the situation that the SABC finds itself in.”

SABC has shut foreign bureaus in China, Senegal, Belgium and Brazil this year to help cut costs and had asked the government earlier this year for a 2 billion rand bailout. The National Treasury allocated an additional 200 million rand to SABC this fiscal year, it said in its Medium Term Budget Policy Statement on Oct. 27.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nasreen Seria in Johannesburg at nseria@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 25, 2009 01:02 EST