The Democratic Alliance (DA) has accused the SABC of jumping the gun by taking the decision not to support conditional access of set-top boxes \u2013 while Cabinet is yet to reach a decision on the matter.<\/p>\n
On Thursday (31 October), SABC Acting Chief Operating Officer (COO), Hlaudi Motsoeneng announced that the public broadcaster would not support conditional access in its digital terrestrial transmmission (DTT) set-top boxes (STBs).<\/p>\n
\u201cOur services, both television and radio, have always been on a free-to-air basis and going forward this will also be the case for DTT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unacceptable that a public servant can unilaterally decide on government policy \u2013 and expose the SABC to potentially damaging legal challenges \u2013 before Cabinet has decided on the matter,\u201d said DA shadow minster of communications, Marian Shinn.<\/p>\n
Minister of communications, Yunus Carrim told media last week that he would soon present to Cabinet his department\u2019s recommendations on the digital migration policy review started by his predecessor.<\/p>\n
Part of this review was to determine the need for an access control system on the set-top boxes which is needed to view its programmes once digital broadcasting is switched on, the party said.<\/p>\n
In July, it was reported by the City Press that the SABC had signed a deal with MultiChoice which included a clause stating that, should SABC\u2019s free-to-air channels be made available on the SABC DTT platforms on an encrypted basis, MultiChoice could cancel the R553 million due to SABC for airing its 24-hour news and entertainment channels on its platform.<\/p>\n
The deal was signed while the Department of Communications\u2019 policy review was in progress.<\/p>\n
Carrim recently confirmed that the digital migration policy was still being reviewed, the DA noted in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinister Carrim must explain how this situation has evolved and the financial and reputational risks that the government is now exposed to,\u201d Shinn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister must also account for the credibility blow this has delivered to the government\u2019s strategy to boost the electronics industry\u2019s capabilities through producing STBs with access control systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Media Workers\u2019 Association of SA (Mwasa) on Friday (1 November) welcomed the SABC\u2019s decision to make its DTT set-top boxes free-to-air.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis unexpected statement represents a rare glimpse or signs of an SABC regaining consciousness of its role as the premier provider of freely accessible public broadcasting services,\u201d Mwasa said.<\/p>\n
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