The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) is getting involved in South Africa’s long-running and disastrous migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television.

The civil society lobby group wants parliament to launch an investigation into what’s gone wrong with the migration project and what must be done to resolve it.

The project’s biggest problem has been the distribution of set-top boxes for indigent households, with government struggling to manage the project. It had been the responsibility of underserviced-areas agency Usaasa but Sentech, the state-owned broadcasting signal distributor, has also become involved.

Despite being more than a decade behind schedule, the project is nowhere near completing its objectives, even as the deadline for switching off analogue broadcasts looms.

According to a statement on Thursday, Outa has submitted a research report to parliament’s portfolio committee on communications & digital technologies, “detailing key challenges” that have hindered the project.

“With the final deadline of 31 March 2025 for the analogue switch-off process fast approaching, there is growing pressure on parliament to ensure consequence management for the persistent delays and mismanagement of the project,” Outa said in the statement.

“Furthermore, in e.tv’s legal bid at the high court in Pretoria to invalidate and hold the analogue switch-off, the judge stated that communications minister Solly Malatsi’s decision not to consult before setting the 31 March 2025 analogue switch-off deadline is unsustainable. Additionally, the SABC submitted an affidavit warning that the deadline could jeopardise its financial stability and public mandate.”

‘No way’

TechCentral reported in February that Sentech at the time had less than two months to distribute some 220 000 set-top boxes to households registered for the subsidy programme. Installers subcontracted to Sentech who spoke to TechCentral said there was “no way” the project would meet that deadline because it was in disarray, adding that the situation on the ground was “a mess”.

Outa said government’s failure to distribute set-top boxes to vulnerable households, coupled with the absence of a public awareness campaign, has left millions reliant on an outdated analogue system, risking loss of access to essential television services. Between 2.2 million and 4.5 million households may be affected, many of whom cannot afford to migrate to digital platforms without government support, it said.

Read: Warning of TV blackout for millions in South Africa

This perspective was echoed by legal representative for industry lobby groups Media Monitoring Africa and the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition in a joint presentation to the high court earlier this month in the e.tv case against Malatsi. Speaking on behalf of the two organisations, Adv Nick Ferreira accused Malatsi of “lowballing” estimates of the number of people who are going to be adversely affected by the analogue switch-off, which is scheduled to take place on Monday – unless stopped by the court.

Ferreira said what makes matters worse is that Sentech has reduced the geographical scope of its set-top-box installation project to only four of South Africa’s nine provinces, increasing the likelihood that a higher number of households will be completely cut off from television following the planned switch-off.

According to Ferreira, Sentech “erroneously” thinks that switch-off has already taken place in these provinces when, in fact, it is only the SABC that has turned off its analogue transmitters. The SABC has switched off analogue broadcasts in the Free State, the Northern Cape, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. But other free-to-air broadcasters, including e.tv, still use analogue signals to reach audiences in these provinces.

Another issue Ferreria brought to the court’s attention is how unlikely it is that Sentech will complete the balance of the installations that are still required before the end of the year.

Read: 220 000 set-top boxes, 63 days: Sentech’s mission impossible?

“It is our view that mismanagement, coupled with a lack of political will, has led to the wasteful expenditure of public funds on an incomplete and poorly executed migration process. It is parliament’s duty to ensure that public funds are spent effectively and that the broadcast digital migration process is concluded with a clear and measurable outcome,” said Stefanie Fick, executive director of Outa’s accountability division. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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