South Africa Wants TikTok to Pay Its Creators. But the Problem Goes Beyond TikTok. 

A video can travel from Johannesburg to London before its creator has finished replying to the comments. A dance video recorded in Accra can become a global trend.

A comedian in Nairobi can build an audience across borders without leaving home. Yet when the views arrive, the question of who actually gets paid and the worth of that payment becomes a different conversation.

That is the issue South Africa’s Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Solly Malatsi, has raised again with TikTok. He wants South African creators to access the platform’s Creator Rewards Programme, arguing that local talent contributes to TikTok’s popularity without enjoying the same direct earning opportunities available in markets such as the United States and United Kingdom.

South Africa is not alone in this situation. The Creator Rewards Programme is not available across Africa, leaving creators in many countries dependent on alternative income streams. And while TikTok is the immediate subject, the bigger question concerns how global platforms distribute the money generated by African audiences and creativity.

Millions of Views, But Where Is the Money?

TikTok’s Creator Rewards Programme is designed to reward eligible creators for qualifying original videos, subject to its rules and requirements. But creators in countries where the programme is unavailable cannot simply accumulate eligible views and expect payment through it.

Instead, many depend on sponsored posts, brand partnerships, livestream gifts, affiliate marketing and other commercial arrangements. These can generate substantial income for some creators, but they depend on attracting paying partners, building a loyal audience or persuading viewers to spend money. They are not the same as having access to a platform’s direct rewards system.

The scale of the opportunity is not insignificant. TikTok advertising data cited by DataReportal indicated that the platform could reach 29.1 million adults in South Africa in late 2025, equivalent to 56.4% of the country’s internet users. That is a substantial audience for creators and advertisers alike.

The issue has been raised before. In March 2025, Malatsi called for TikTok’s creator fund to be expanded to South Africa. The renewed pressure followed another meeting with the company’s leadership.

There has also been movement on other earning opportunities. On September 28, 2026, TikTok announced the expansion of TikTok One to South Africa, giving creators a platform to connect with brands and pursue sponsored-content opportunities.

That is relevant progress, but TikTok One and Creator Rewards are different products. Access to brand partnerships does not resolve the question of access to direct rewards for qualifying videos.

TikTok Is Not the Whole Creator Economy

It would be easy to treat this as a disagreement between South Africa and one technology company. But the wider creator economy deserves closer attention.

Platforms have different monetisation models, eligibility requirements and country lists. YouTube, for example, operates its Partner Programme in several African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and Uganda. Eligible creators can earn advertising revenue and access other monetisation features, provided they meet the relevant requirements.

That means the issue is not that every major platform excludes every African creator. The problem is that access to earning opportunities varies by platform, country and programme. Some creators can earn directly from one platform but not another; others may have access to certain features without qualifying for all of them.

Facebook and Instagram also offer monetisation and commercial tools whose availability depends on the feature and the creator’s eligibility. Brand deals may fill some gaps, but they can leave creators negotiating income individually while platforms retain control over distribution, advertising products and access to audiences.

So, why should a creator in Africa generate engagement on the same global platform but have fewer ways to earn from it? What determines which markets qualify: payment infrastructure, regulatory requirements, advertiser demand or commercial priorities? Platforms should explain these differences clearly rather than leaving creators to discover the limits after investing time in building an audience.

Africa Needs to Negotiate More Than Access

African governments should not approach creator revenue as a TikTok-only complaint. The continent needs a broader conversation with digital platforms about monetisation access, transparent eligibility rules, reliable payment systems, creator support and the economic value generated by local audiences.

That conversation should also involve creators, advertising agencies, industry associations and policymakers. They need clearer information about which programmes are available, why some markets are excluded, how revenue is calculated and what conditions must be met before access can expand.

There is a responsibility on creators, too, to understand the business behind the content. An audience is valuable, but views alone do not guarantee income. Building relationships with brands, developing products, diversifying distribution and understanding platform policies can reduce dependence on a single source of revenue.

Those measures, however, should not become an excuse for platforms to avoid questions about fair and transparent access.

Africa is not short of people who can make content the world wants to watch. The question is whether the continent can turn that attention into a more dependable economic opportunity.

If African creators help build the audiences that make global platforms valuable, why should earning from that value remain so uneven? South Africa has reopened the conversation. The rest of the continent should be asking it, too.