Ayanda Hollow responds to Lebo Keswa's opinion piece ‘ Muthambi's use of digital migration as a vendetta will cost SA’ which was published in The Sunday Independent on October 02.
This response to Keswa will be limited to facts around the benefits of Digital Migration to the citizens of South Africa and the mandate of the Department of Communications. It does not serve any purpose to dwell on the rest of the contents of the article. The real debate we should have is around migration to better picture quality and to better content quality for all broadcasters in support of education, health, poverty eradication, crime prevention and rural development. This is the essence of the developmental agenda that makes the Mangaung resolutions vital to achieve and that is the mission Minister Muthambi and Government are working towards. Entertainment is but a tiny part of this agenda.
The Department of Communications has commenced with a nation-wide training of set-top box installers. The Northern Cape SKA area is now 99 % covered and the switch off date for this borderline region is on the 28 October 2016. The MOU with the Department of Public Works for more installers to be trained has been achieved. This means that about 2800 young set -top box installers will be equipped with new skills to participate in this market This is Minister's Muthambi's contribution towards the 9 point plan. #GODIGITALSA
The non-encryption of set-top boxes is in line with the Department's mandate of unconditionally providing free acccess to content for citizens in all corners of South Africa. Content encryption is necessary only when providers want to provide access conditionally, the most common condition being payment of a fee. Before DTT South Africa was sitting below eighty percent (80%) coverage. After migration the coverage will be at one hundred percet (100%). Given this mandate, the expenditure related to encryption, which is estimated at R5 billion is unnecessary.
The Digital Migration Policy is progressive in that it grants players in the market freedom to create their own commercially driven encryption systems and to manufacture and distribute their own set- top boxes. Consequently, as far back as July 2012, Mark Weinberg of the Right 2 Know Campaign welcomed the Cabinet position not to encrypt public broadcast content as this would increase the production of local and original content and drive up digital television uptake,
When Cabinet decided on the set-top boxes specifications in 2008, it had the governments mandate and the improved viewing experience of citizens in mind. The specifications allow for the capacity to air multiple content. In fact using these set-top boxes, South Africans will have access to all radio stations in South Africa regardless of the region they reside in. People with a hearing disability are now able to use the sub-tittle features of set-top boxes to enjoy their viewing experience. Through the S A Post Office extensive network the benefits of the set-top boxes will soon reach all corners of South Africa.
On to other parts of the article that deserve attention; Keswa should familiarise herself with the proclamation on who is leading which domain in the digital migration space.
Secondly, the Minister of Communications has already welcomed the judgement of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), delivered on 31 May 2016. The judgement confirmed that the decision of government on the encryption of set top boxes should be optional and remain a commercial option for all broadcasters.
Lastly, the Minister has as recently as on the 15th September this year, in a joint Portfolio meeting in Parliament with Minister Cwele, clarified that the SCA did not order the reversal of the broadcasting digital migration process. It is therefore incorrect to assert that it is collapsing the digital migration project. The North Gauteng High Court decision, in June 2015, remained valid and entirely in favour of the Minister until the SCA invalidated clause 5.1.2(B) (a).
* Ayanda Hollow is Director: Provincial & Local Liaison (Western Cape Office) for the Government Communication and Information System department.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.