Broadcasting Digital Migration: Costly, delayed, and lacking oversight

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has submitted a research report to the Portfolio Committee on Communication and Digital Technologies, detailing key challenges that have plagued the Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) project for over a decade – most notably, persistent delays and irregular expenditure. OUTA also calls on Parliament to conduct an urgent investigation into the project’s handling and ensure that the responsible parties are held accountable for their actions.

With the final deadline of 31 March 2025 for the BDM process fast approaching, there is growing pressure on Parliament to ensure consequence management for the persistent delays and mismanagement of the project.

Furthermore, in the e.tv legal bid in Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to invalidate and hold the analogue switch off, the judge stated that the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies’ decision to not consult before setting the 31 March 2025 analogue switch-off (ASO) deadline is unsustainable. Additionally, the SABC submitted an affidavit warning that the deadline could jeopardise its financial stability and public mandate. The case highlights the importance of meaningful consultation in decision-making, especially when it concerns the future of public broadcasting. A judgment on the matter is expected in due course.

The BDM project was approved in 2008 and was designed to move South Africa from analogue to digital television broadcasting, aiming to improve signal quality, free up spectrum for mobile broadband, and create a more efficient broadcasting system. However, the process has been mired in years of delays, missed deadlines, and wasteful expenditure. Despite repeated calls for action, digital migration remains incomplete, with the latest deadline – December 2024 – missed by a wide margin.

The failure to distribute set-top boxes (STBs) to vulnerable households, coupled with the absence of a public awareness campaign, leaves millions reliant on an outdated analogue system, risking loss of access to essential television services. Between 2.2 million and 4.5 million households may be affected, many of whom cannot afford to migrate to digital platforms without government support.

OUTA has previously raised concerns about the ongoing wasteful expenditure and dubious tenders linked to the project, emphasising the need for strong oversight and effective consequence management.

“It is our view that mismanagement, coupled with a lack of political will, has led to the wasteful expenditure of public funds on an incomplete and poorly executed migration process,” said Adv Stefanie Fick, Executive Director of OUTA’s Accountability Division. “It is Parliament’s duty to ensure that public funds are spent effectively, and that the BDM process is concluded with a clear and measurable outcome.”

According to Fick, the continued delays and inefficiencies in the digital migration process are not only an embarrassment but a betrayal of South African citizens who depend on access to free-to-air television. “Parliament must ensure government accountability and enforce consequence management. The public cannot continue to bear the cost of mismanagement and failure.”

OUTA believes that the following key issues require urgent parliamentary action:

• Holding government departments accountable for their role in the delayed and inefficient BDM rollout.
• Ensuring that steps are taken against all those involved in wasteful expenditure linked to the project.
• Mandating the distribution of STBs to at least 80% of indigent households to prevent millions from losing access to television services.
• Establishing a nationwide public awareness campaign to educate citizens on the migration and ensure equitable access.