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Picture of the Sentech tower.
The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has stated that the Minister of Communication & Technologies’ submission that he did not have to consult on the 31 March 2025 analogue switch-off deadline is not sustainable.
This as Counsel on behalf of the minister argued that it did not have to conduct another round of consultations when setting the analogue switch off (ASO) deadline to 31 March 2025.
Applicants are asking the court to halt the decision, which they argue, will sever millions of South Africans’ access to television, particularly the poor.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies has opposed ETV’s bid to halt the 31 March 2025 Analogue Switch-Off (ASO) deadline contending that there was no legitimate basis for another round of consultation on this postponement.
“When the decision to proclaim 31 March 2025 was taken by cabinet, the minister did not go to the applicants and say I am now thinking of 31 March 2025. That did not happen. That we accept! And our submission is that, in fact, (it) did not have to happen,” says Advocate Kennedy Tsatsawene SC on behalf of Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies.
This triggered the court who found this submission to not be sustainable to canvass on the heart of this legal challenge, which is the applicant’s contention that the minister’s decision was not lawful as it failed to follow a rational process, which would mitigate the adverse impact of the analogue switch off through consultation – sparking a debate on the concept of consultation to simply tick the boxes versus meaningful public consultation.
“It is not an exercise or semantics or trying to just go through the motions to say we have consulted. As I understand, you are saying the ETV was in a different context. Yes, it was. You are correct in that, but when the court set out the basics of consultation, the different context, the slightly different context, I must say because it is still in the context of digital migration and issues concerned therewith in the ETV application. So, I am saying the requirements are to prevent this kind of thing because, maybe rather have some endless consultations in order to bring this whole matter of digital migration to a close,” says Judge Selby Baqwa, Gauteng High Court.
While the SABC chose to abide in this matter, it did hand up an explanatory affidavit which paints a grim picture should the Analogue switch-off deadline proceed – a December 2024 letter by the SABC to the Minister of Communications & Technologies, which at the time requested a year postponement to ASO citing among other things that it would “jeopardize the Corporation’s financial sustainability, its public mandate and the consequential audience and revenue loss shall spell the demise of the 88-year-old public broadcaster”.
Applicants contended that this runs counter to the minister’s submission in his affidavit that the SABC will “not collapse” despite having knowledge of the contents of this letter.
“The minister deposes that affidavit at a time where he is in possession of a letter from the SABC which tells him indeed you are going to bring about our demise if you implement ASO on this date and not only does he not put that letter up, he fails to disclose it. He deposes an affidavit that contradicts it without any basis,” says Advocate Nick Ferreira, on behalf of MMA and SOS.
Judgment is expected in due course.
Video: Legal bid to invalidate and halt the analogue switch off
