According to the National Treasury Sentech's target is to have 60% of South Africa covered for a digital television by the end of March 2011 and achieve 80% coverage by the end of the year. The National Treasury is giving the South African public broadcaster R441 million for the next financial year (2012/2013) and R463 million for 2013/2014 for the SABC's conversion project to DTT.
Overall the National Treasury is giving the South African department of communications that is supposed to spearhead the DTT conversion R1,192 billion over the next three years. This amount includes the money that will go to the end consumer and normal TV viewer in the department's as yet unannounced national subsidy scheme of digital DVB-T2 set-top boxes (STB's) that viewers will have buy. The subsidy portion for STB's for DTT in South Africa is R690 million over the next three years. The department already ''lost'' R180 million earmarked for subsidies for STB's that have to be used by the end of March 2011, and since no mass market consumer STB's exist for the 10 million households who will have to switch-over or any subsidy programme, the department will forfeit this R180 million.
The current switch-off date for terrestrial television signal distribution in South Africa, as set by the department of communications, is December 2013.
