South Africa’s analogue switch-off (ASO), which is part of the broadcasting digital migration (BDM) programme, will not move ahead on 31 March.
This, after the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria yesterday ordered the deadline set for month-end to be suspended.
Last week saw SA’s decade-long BDM programme come before the courts again, as eMedia-owned Etv, joined by public interest non-government organisations Media Monitoring Africa and SOS Support Public Broadcasting, sought postponement of the deadline.
The broadcasters argued 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.
They also warned that “millions” of South Africans will no longer have access to TV services should the deadline proceed.
Communications minister Solly Malatsi’s legal team argued there was sufficient consultation with industry stakeholders, to meet the deadline and move the needle forward in the much-delayed project.
The 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 also opposed the relief sought.
However, the minister was delivered a blow when the High Court ruled the ASO will not go ahead, pending the final determination of the relief sought in Part B of this application:
The judgement reads: “The operation of the final analogue switch-off date of 31 March 2025, as announced by the minister of communications and digital technologies on 5 December 2024, is suspended.
“The minister of communications and digital technologies is interdicted from taking any steps to implement the switch-off of analogue signals and ending dual-illumination.
“Sentech SOC Limited is interdicted from taking any steps to implement the switch-off of analogue signals and ending dual-illumination.”
The court further ordered the minister to pay the costs of the application.
Responding to the suspended deadline via X (formerly Twitter), Malatsi said: “I am studying the judgement with the communications [department] legal team, to guide how best to proceed on this matter. We’ll communicate in detail once we have concluded consultations, including [with] Cabinet.”
Malatsi is yet another DCDT minister to encounter hurdles in SA's much-delayed move to digital TV.
The BDM programme has long bedevilled government. After missing the International Telecommunication Union-mandated June 2015 deadline, the communications ministry made numerous attempts to conclude the country’s migration.
Controversies that bogged down the process included numerous litigation tussles, switch-up of STB standards, leadership changes within the ministry, disgruntled STB installers, pressure from broadcasters and low registration turnout.
In December, Malatsi’s department confirmed a new ASO deadline, with 31 March 2025 set as the date for South African broadcasters to stop using analogue broadcasting frequencies − the period known as dual-illumination transmission.
The decision came after Malatsi updated Parliament’s oversight body for the communications portfolio, noting that hundreds of thousands of households would likely end up without access to TV services if the 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.
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