The High Court Gauteng Division has suspended the March 31 switch off of South Africa’s analogue frequencies pending a review of the shutdown date.

This followed a two-part application brought by eTV, Media Monitoring Africa and Support Public Broadcasting Coalition (SOS) against Communications and Digital Technology Minister Solly Malatsi, President Cyril Ramaphosa and nine other respondents, including the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Technologies chairperson, representing the National Assembly.

Part A was an urgent application for an interdict pending the final determination of the Part B review of the decision to set March 31, 2025, as the analogue switch-off date.

“The Portfolio Committee of Communications and Digital Technologies has noted the judgment delivered by the High Court Gauteng Division on March 27,” said Portfolio Committee on Communications and Technologies chairperson Khusela Diko.

According to a statement issued by the committee, the court ruled that the operation of the final analogue switch-off date of March 31, as announced by Malatsi on December 5, has been suspended pending the Part B review.

This means that the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and Sentech have been interdicted from taking any steps to implement the analogue signal switch-off and the end of dual illumination.

This comes against the backdrop of a number of other court judgments against the Minister related to the analogue switch-off date.

“While the committee notes the importance of the digital switchover to ensure that South Africa is on par with global trends in adopting digital technologies, it is more important that the constitutional obligations and court rulings are upheld in the interest of inclusivity.”

The committee said it appreciated the complexity and multifaceted nature of the Broadcasting Digital Migration policy, which involved multiple stakeholders, budget allocations and implementation challenges.

The majority of households in South Africa were dependent on free-to-air broadcasting services and should not be left behind after the digital switch-over, Diko noted, adding that State-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), mandated to provide universal access to public broadcasting services, must be protected to ensure that public broadcasting was not compromised.

“Implementing the analogue switch-off in the current conditions would serve only to exacerbate the existing crisis at the SABC as it is estimated that the public broadcaster would lose not only about 30% of its audiences but also attendant revenue.”

Further, the committee remains concerned about the challenges of maintaining the analogue network, which comes at an exorbitant cost to Sentech for dual illumination.

An amplified stakeholder engagement practice that fosters consensus and collaboration needs to take precedence.

Diko urged government to have tactical agility and not wait for another potential loss in Part B of the application, and for the Minister to urgently present measures to achieve an all-inclusive digital switch-over date, taking into consideration the court ruling.

“The committee remains committed to the digital switch-over and will ensure stringent oversight over the government in its delivery. An expedited digital switchover will ensure that the much-needed spectrum is freed and allocated to critical services. This will ensure that the digital dividend contributes to an inclusive digital economy.”