Reports in the media alleging communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri had proposed a moratorium on pay-TV licences are incorrect, says the department's director-general, Lyndall Shope-Mafole.
Last month, newspaper Business Day published an article alleging the minister had changed her mind about the pay-TV licences. Under the headline 'The ministry of dithering and delay', the article said the department had published a digital migration plan that suggested licensing should wait until after the launch of digital migration in November 2008.
The newspaper went on to publish a submission from Democratic Alliance communications spokesperson Dene Smuts last Wednesday. In the article, Smuts alleges Matsepe-Casaburri is proposing a moratorium "because it may 'undermine' migration from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting".
In response, Shope-Mafole notes: "It is clear there is confusion regarding the pay-TV licensing process [and] the department would like to set the record straight."
In a media statement, Shope-Mafole says the minister has at no point proposed a moratorium on the pay-TV licensing process. Additionally, she says it is common and legislated knowledge the licensing of broadcasting services is and continues to be an Independent Communications Authority of SA process.
"The document that was issued for public comment largely represents the proposals of the digital migration working group, which was made up of experts and representatives of the broadcasting industry in the main. The group handed its report to the minister late last year," she said last week.
During the department's consultative workshop on digital migration, it was made clear the draft strategy and implementation were not representative of the views of the department and, therefore, the minister, says the DG.
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