Yet another digital TV switch-on deadline has been missed, as the broadcast digital migration policy has still not emerged from Cabinet, where it is awaiting final approval.
This was meant to be wrapped up at the end of July, with minister of telecommunications and postal services minister Siyabonga Cwele planning to announce a turn-on date this month. However, the policy has yet to be tabled and government has once again failed to provide an update on the process.
Democratic Alliance shadow minister of telecommunications and postal services Marian Shinn says a portfolio committee update around the entire digital migration process has been scheduled for the end of November. This would suggest switch-on is unlikely to happen for at least another month.
Meanwhile, says Shinn, portfolio committee members have been informed a presidential proclamation is finally being drafted that will outline which department and minister will ultimately be responsible for driving the digital migration process.
"At this stage, we haven't been told when this proclamation will be completed, or what it will state. But we have been told that it is coming," she explains.
Once this has been done, it is hoped it will lay to rest the de facto stand-off between Cwele's Department of Telecommunications and Postal Service (DTPS) and the Department of Communications (DOC), under Faith Muthambi.
The bulk of the former DOC - which is now government's marketing arm - is supposed to reside within the DTPS, while the new DOC has policy oversight on communications, and is also responsible for entities such as the Independent Communications Authority of SA and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
While the DTPS is said to have been tasked with handling infrastructure projects, such as broadband access and digital migration, both ministers have claimed ownership of the latter project, sparking speculation that a turf war has erupted between the two ministries.
Soon after taking office following the May elections, Cwele identified broadcast digital migration as a priority project for his department, warning of dire consequences for the country, should it miss the International Telecommunication Union's June 2015 cut-off date for analogue signal protection.
However, earlier this month, Muthambi's department stated it is "intensely involved in the digital migration policy", following the Presidential Proclamation, gazetted in July 2014, which transferred the Broadcasting Act No 4 [of] 1999 to the newly-established Department of Communications.
Cwele's spokesperson, Siya Qoza, could not shed any light on the progress of digital broadcast migration, while Muthambi's spokesperson, Ayanda Hollow, is currently travelling abroad with the minister. Despite numerous attempts, newly-appointed Cabinet spokesman Donald Liphoko could also not be reached for comment.
"The splitting of the communications ministry was meant to accelerate and streamline the development of the country's ICT sector, but it has stalled it," says Shinn.
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