"Poor South Africans to be Left in the Dark as Icasa Allows Corporate Interests to Dictate Digital Broadcasting Migration"
As the country hurtles towards a digital broadcasting migration that will leave millions of poor South Africans without access to television, communications regulator Icasa is set to rubber-stamp a disastrous plan that prioritizes corporate interests over the public good.
Media watchdogs Support Public Broadcasting (SOS) Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) have slammed Icasa for its failure to protect the interests of millions of poor South Africans who rely on public-interest broadcasting to make informed decisions about their lives.
In a scathing presentation to Icasa, Uyanda Siyotula, national coordinator at SOS Coalition, and William Bird, executive director at MMA, accused the regulator of betraying the trust of the public by allowing large financial interests to dictate how the migration to digital is done.
"The licence conditions of the SABC and community broadcasters need to reflect the guarantees provided in regard to multiplex allocation with certain obligations to prioritise South African content," they said. "But Icasa seems more interested in catering to the interests of corporate giants than in serving the public interest."
The duo warned that the analogue switch-off will result in 33% of the population losing access to television, leading to an existential crisis for the national broadcaster.
"Any migration that leaves a significant portion of the population behind will lead to an existential crisis for the SABC," Bird said. "It is a catastrophic risk for the SABC… To cut its audience in this context is basically taking away its only source of revenue. This will have consequences on the thousands of jobs at the SABC, and we are facing a possible extinction event for the public broadcaster."
Meanwhile, the department of communications & digital technologies has been accused of failing to provide clarity on the progress of the migration to digital since the analogue switch-off deadline was announced by minister Mondli Gungubele in July 2023.
"It is a betrayal of the trust placed in the department to ensure a fair digital migration process that leaves no one behind," the organizations said. "We expect Icasa to consider the migration to DTT an abject failure if it means that a third of South Africans will no longer have access to television. Icasa must ensure that the analogue switch-off doesn’t happen if it results in 33% of citizens losing access to television."
The future of South African television hangs in the balance as Icasa prepares to make the crucial decision on the allocation of multiplexes, which will determine the fate of the SABC and community broadcasters.
Will Icasa choose to prioritize the interests of the corporate elite or the public good? The answer will have far-reaching consequences for the future of South African television and the millions of people who rely on it for information and entertainment.
