The Democratic Alliance's (DA's) shadow communications minister Marian Shinn has called on government and its public broadcaster to come before Parliament and outline certain aspects of a recently unearthed deal she says "severely jeopardises" SA's set-top box (STB) policy.
This follows a report in the Sunday Times yesterday that revealed a deal signed between the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and commercial cash cow MultiChoice, on 3 July, prohibits the SABC from airing its channels on an encrypted platform.
Shinn says communications minister Yunus Carrim and Ellen Tshabalala - chairperson of the former interim SABC board - must explain to Parliament why the deal for two 24-hour SABC channels on the MultiChoice platform "contradicts government's policy on digital terrestrial television (DTT)".
She further says: "We also need to know why a deal of this magnitude was not signed by the SABC's group chief operating officer Lulama Mokhobo, and whether the terms of the deal had interim board approval before it was signed."
The new SABC board was appointed last week, following months of media controversy and uncertainty at the state broadcaster.
Shinn says if the conditions for the 24-hour news and entertainment channels were not put before the previous SABC board, "we need to know how thoroughly the interim board understood the far-reaching consequences [of the agreement and the business case involved]".
She says Carrim needs to divulge whether the SABC had government approval to sign the deal, which "contradicts government's years-long insistence that STBs have access control systems to, in the main, grow and protect the local electronics manufacturing industry".
About a year ago, 36 companies submitted responses to a Department of Communications (DOC) request for proposals for the manufacturing of STBs with access control systems. The announcement of the successful manufacturers was put on hold earlier this year, when former communications minister Dina Pule announced the DTT policy was being reviewed. There has been no known progress on this revision.
"I have been told by a number of companies that submitted STB manufacturing proposals that they have had no invitation to meet minister Carrim to discuss the crisis, but they have received a request from the DOC to 'extend our tender price until 14 October 2013'," says Shinn.
"This is two weeks away and there has been no indication whether the specifications on the original request for proposals have changed, but the foreign exchange rate has, so any costings in the year-old proposals will be invalid, even if the access control system remains in the specifications.
"Action and answers are required to put a stop to the turmoil at the public's broadcaster."
Prior friction
This follows another bout of battle involving the SABC, just under two weeks ago, after the media launch of etv-linked offering OpenView HD - a free satellite TV platform set to kick off in mid-October.
The state broadcaster accused Platco Digital, an etv sister company recently set up to bring OpenView HD to market, of publicising mistruths.
The SABC said in a statement it would not broadcast its channels on the platform, as Platco MD Maxwell Nonge told media at the launch.
"The SABC acknowledges the growing digital television broadcasting environment in the country; however, the OpenView HD pronouncement that SABC television channels will form part of their bouquet is not true, as the public service broadcaster does not have any agreement with the newly-launched satellite television service."
The SABC further pointed out it had an agreement with signal distributor Sentech to have SABC1, 2 and 3 on a free-to-air basis on the Sentech Universal Access Direct To Home satellite platform by the end of this month.
Further developments on the issue have yet to come to light. The Independent Communications Authority of SA cannot offer answers, as it says the issue is purely between the two parties.
At the time, OpenView HD released a broad-based statement, saying it was "surprised" by the SABC and said the public broadcaster has various obligations. "Any attempts by the SABC to prevent Platco from carrying the SABC channels would be unlawful."
Platco had not responded to a request for further details by the time of publication.
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