by Thinus Ferreira
South Africa's latest switch-off deadline of 31 December 2024 for analogue transmitters in the country's long-delayed migration process to digital terrestrial television (DTT) has inevitably been pushed out yet again, now to 31 March 2025.
Millions more TV households who either haven't had their free set-box box (STB) installed yet by the government as well as the "missing middle" who earn more than R3 500 and must buy one - although none exist in retail - must still make the switch.
If these households in the four remaining provinces of Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape - collectively representing more than 50% of South Africa's population - suddenly lose their TV signals, they will be cut off from news and information.
It will also prove disastrous for South Africa's broadcasters like the SABC, eMedia's e.tv and community TV channels like Cape Town TV (CTV) who will experience further debilitating viewership losses, with diminished ratings impacting advertising rates, and in turn cratering their ad revenue.
Around 174 analogue transmitters across these provinces are still on.
On Thursday evening Solly Malatsi, South Africa's 12th minister of communications and digital technologies dealing with the issue of the country's DTT transition, announced that the switch-off is once again being pushed out.
The deadline of 31 December is moved out by another three months to 31 March 2025.
The SABC asked the government for another 12 months' delay until 31 December. It's not clear what extension eMedia asked the department for. eMedia declined to say what period it wanted the deadline date to be pushed out by when asked in a media query.
"This extension will ensure that as many indigent households as possible will enjoy their right to access broadcast services," says Solly Malatsi.
He said that the department "communicated this decision to the broadcasters and relevant stakeholders" in a meeting on Thursday "and commit to continue working together with them on this project".
"Their commitment to ensuring that the free-to-air households migrate is critical to the success of this programme."
"The postponement of the analogue switch-off deadline recognises the considerable delays that have plagued the Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) project since its inception and provides the necessary relief that makes provision for more time to migrate as many South African as possible before the final switch-off."
According to Malatsi, he has "directed the director-general to implement consequence management for any individuals responsible for failures within the department".
Around 467 000 poor households who have registered for the government-subsidised set-top boxes have not yet had these installed with STBs gathering dust in locked South African Post Offices and Sentech warehouses.
"There is no denying that the Broadcasting Digital Migration project has dragged on for far too long, costing the government R1.23 billion for dual illumination, which refers to the simultaneous transmission of both analogue and digital signals," Malatsi says.
No money has been budgeted for dual illumination for 2025 to keep analogue transmitters on and it isn't clear where the department will get the money from for the next three-month extension.
Since 2015 South Africa has spent over R12 billion on the switch to DTT.
"This process is costly and cannot be sustained indefinitely. More so, at a time when the fiscus is under extreme pressure," Solly Malatsi says.
"Our immediate focus between now and the end of March 2025 is to aggressively accelerate the delivery and installation of set-top boxes to indigent households to ensure that as many households as possible are prepared for the switch-off."
