Minister Solly Malatsi is adamant there was sufficient consultation with industry stakeholders, as government looks to move ahead with the 31 March deadline for South Africa’s analogue switch-off (ASO).
This is according to the minister’s answering affidavit submitted to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, as broadcasters seek legal intervention in SA’s analogue switch-off deadline.
The country’s decade-long broadcasting digital migration (BDM) project is again before the courts, as eMedia-owned Etv, joined by public interest non-government organisations Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and SOS Support Public Broadcasting (SOS Coalition), seek another deadline deferment.
Earlier this week, the court heard arguments from Etv, MMA and the SOS Coalition’s legal counsel, which noted that “millions” of South Africans will no longer have access to TV services should the deadline proceed.
They also stated that the decision was taken without rational consultation, claiming government is nowhere near completing its process of rolling out set-top boxes (STBs) to all who need them and have been promised the decoders before 31 March.
The MMA and the SOS Coalition’s legal representative added there is concern about the impact the ASO will have on a “rich and vibrant ecosystem of expression in which a range of different views and a variety of sources of different information can be received by the public”.
According to counsel, if analogue transmission is switched off before sufficient audience members have migrated to digital transmission, it will devastate the broadcaster’s operations.
In the answering affidavit, which ITWeb has seen, the minister’s legal counsel argued that Etv’s bid to halt the switch-off is not about protecting the poor and their right to access TV, but rather about protecting its commercial interests.
It was further stated that government invited qualifying households to apply and ran public awareness campaigns for registrations, among other measures.
The minister’s legal counsel opposed the relief sought, stating: “The applicant's main complaint in this application is about inadequate consultation. But the applicants have been consulted, and their views have been considered by government before the analogue switch-off date of 31 March 2025 was determined.
“Whilst the decision to proclaim the analogue switch-off date was taken by the Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa, it was briefed by the minister on the process that was followed up to the date on which the determination of the ASO date was made. For this reason, the president of the Republic of South Africa will also be opposing this application and will inform the court of the basis on which government opposes relief which the applicants seek.”
In an interview with SABC’s Morning Live yesterday, Malatsi said it is the seventh administration’s decision to proceed with the ASO by the end of March.
Ongoing saga
In early December, Malatsi’s Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) confirmed 31 March 2025 as the new date for SA’s broadcasters to stop using analogue broadcasting frequencies, or the period known as dual-illumination transmission.
The decision came after Malatsi updated Parliament’s communications portfolio oversight body, noting that hundreds of thousands of households would likely end up without access to TV services if the previous 31 December 2024 deadline was upheld.
He also revealed the conundrum of having to source further funding for dual-illumination, which has cost R1.3 billion since 2014.
The DCDT, together with its entity Sentech, is the project lead on the years-long delayed digital migration process.
After missing the International Telecommunication Union-mandated June 2015 migration deadline, the communications ministry has made several attempts to conclude the country’s BDM project.
However, numerous controversies have bogged down the process, including litigation, the switch-up of STB standards, leadership changes within the ministry, disgruntled STB installers, pressure from broadcasters and low registration turnout.
Migrating from analogue to digital TV formed an important part of making available the sub-1GB radio frequency spectrum bands, which were licensed during ICASA’s “historic” spectrum auction in March 2022.
As part of the BDM programme, government previously gazetted a phased switch-off approach. This put forward 31 July 2023 as deadline for analogue broadcasting services above 694MHz, with 31 December 2024 as the end of the dual-illumination period and switch-off of the remaining analogue services below 694MHz.
In the December 2024 statement, the DCDT said the postponement of the deadline to 31 March 2025 sought to provide more time to migrate as many South Africans as possible before the final switch-off.
The minister’s legal representative contested the claim that “millions” of households would be left behind should the ASO go ahead.
The legal document indicates that a total of 1.8 million households had registered for government-sponsored STBs by 6 March 2025, with government providing 1.35 million STBs to the qualifying households.
It further states 447 000 indigent households still need to be supplied with government-sponsored STBs.
It reads: “The applicants allege that millions of people are going to be cut off from having access to television broadcasts if the relief which they seek is not granted. They suggest that there is going to be a television blackout suffered by millions of households in the Republic. I deny this.
“The applicants have not in their founding affidavit identified the alleged millions of people whose access to television broadcast is going to be cut-off if the relief which is sought in this application is not granted. Of importance, the applicants have not produced any evidence to prove that the alleged millions of people are people who registered to be supplied with the state-sponsored STBs before the closing date of registration.
“Since the registration process was not completely closed, to accommodate late registrations and those whose financial positions may have changed, the number of qualifying beneficiaries who must be supplied will grow as and when late registrations take the opportunity to register. This must not be used to postpone the digital migration process.”
There is no clarity on exactly how many households will be left without access to information and TV services should the ASO deadline move ahead.
The SABC reports it will be up to the court to decide whether to set aside the minister’s decision for the ASO deadline to continue, or grant the relief sought by Etv and the other applicants.
Judgement in the urgent bid has been reserved.
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