The South African government chose today to have a meeting and to immediately dissolve - after two years - the Digital Dzonga advisory council.
The Digital Dzonga was appointed as a group of highly skilled, highly specialized experts within the TV industry to advise and oversee the incredibly intricate and complex process of the South African TV industry's switchover from analogue television to digital terrestrial television (DTT). Minister Siphiwe Nyanda held a meeting this morning with the members of the Digital Dzonga advisory council that consists of 12 representatives from every sector including information technology, TV broadcasting as well as labour and consumer groups - and then dissolved it.
In a shocking and completely unbelievable statement by the department of communications, the minister cites ''a possible conflict of interest by some members'' of the Digital Dzonga advisory council. I called the department and the ministerial spokesperson confirmed the shocking news to me. According to the department of communications ''the minister feels that the Digital Dzonga advisory council had to be dissolved due to the fact that members are employed by organizations that have interests, directly or indirectly, in the value chain of the migration process.''
The minister also feels that the digital migration process to DTT ''shouldn't be compromised as a result of this issue. Yet, the DTT process is already lagging, already behind schedule and South Africa already way behind on the targets that was initially set for the country's digital TV switchover. The department of communications told me that a new council will be constituted and that ''invitations for nominations of suitable candidates'' will be sent out ''shortly''.
ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING NEWS. And as I've said: NO April fools' joke.
Minister of communications' FULL Digital Dzonga advisory council press release
