There are at least 450 000 households in the Western Cape that are at risk of losing their television reception when the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) switches off the analogue broadcast signal in November.
The distribution of set-top boxes to indigent households in the Western Cape never got off the ground and now the department is banking on a voucher system that will subsidise the distribution and installation of these set-top boxes.
At the start of last year, communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams admitted that there were at least 900 000 set-top boxes in warehouse storage that needed to be distributed across the country and that the digital switch-over project would cost government R10 billion.
The switch-off of the analogue broadcast signal will free up spectrum to be used for wireless and broadband services, but also enable more digital broadcasts and more television channels to be launched.
The process has been slow in the Western Cape and by the department’s own calculations, only 54 842 households out of a total of 508 888 have voluntarily registered to receive the government issued set-top box – leaving more than 450 000 possibly in the dark.
National co-ordinator at the SOS Coalition, Duduetsang Makuse, a democratic media and public broadcasting advocacy group, said that in the Western Cape, government is hoping that the number of people who would need assistance would shrink over time.
She said: “The optimistic view here is that they can reach that number by December and possibly everybody would have migrated by then, but because the history of this has been such a lethargic process and, there has been a lot of stop and starts.”
She added: “Even though digital migration could still happen, it’s almost dead in the water in the sense that the technologies have moved on at such a rapid pace that what was initially envisioned is almost now a completely different animal. Initially, they were saying that the set-top boxes were an interim solution ... smart televisions would become cheaper and households would move on.”
Spokesperson for the department of communications, Siphiwo Nzawumbi, said that they have no concerns about Western Cape residents being left without a TV signal come November. “The field preparedness activities include provisioning for the urban and rural areas. Local retail distribution channels as well as the state-based resources will be utilised in a hybrid manner to ensure that all the outstanding households are connected to digital.”
He added: “We are working with local manufacturers and decoder/TV manufacturers to ensure adequate availability of the requisite devices and distribution channels, as well as installation services. Local-based installer companies will be contracted, coordinated and utilised for this purpose.”
But, Nzawumbi admitted that government is hopeful that by now households would have been able to go digital on their own. “We believe that a significant majority have already migrated themselves through the DStv and OpenView HD satellite decoder installations.”
He added that work continues in the province and around the country.
The Western Cape will be covered through a retail-based decoder voucher system, through the collaboration with the private sector terms of distribution and installation logistics. Provinces affected by the voucher dispensation are the Western Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and a portion of Limpopo. The remaining ones, Free State, Northern Cape and North West, are being connected through the existing decoders that were procured by the state in 2019. Local installer companies have been contracted and are utilised for this purpose.
DA MP for Communications & Digital Technologies, Zakhele Mbhele, is not so optimistic.
He said: “Because the DCDT has realised they won't be able to provide set-top boxes to every household that can’t afford to buy their own, they've switched from direct delivery to the provision of subsidies to enable households to buy their own.”
Mbhele added: “My assessment is that, barring a miracle, it's inevitable that there’ll be ongoing delays, bottlenecks, budget shortfalls, etc with the digital migration process and things will fall through cracks.”
In his State of the Nation address in February, President Cyril Ramaphosa assured the nation that “it is anticipated that this process, which will be done province-by-province, will be completed by the end of March 2022.”