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During the Budget Vote of the Department of Communication in May 2018, we committed to return to the public regarding plans on the various commitments, including the review of broadcasting so as to create a new vision for the sector in this rapidly changing environment.  

It is for this purpose that we are hosting this session this morning so that we can share with members of the public and industry our plans moving forward as promised. 

We understand the anxiety around this policy as it charts the new frontiers of our broadcasting landscape after 20 years.  As many of you can remember, a lot of work has been carried out towards the review of our ICT policies prior to the split of the department, giving birth to the now separate departments of Communication and Telecommunications and Postal Services.  

This work started with the withdrawn Public service broadcasting Bill in 2009, a Green Paper was released for public comments in 2014, the Discussion Paper and the recommendation report released early 2015.  In 2014, we issued the General Notice 1003 (Gazette 38206) which invited interested parties and members of the public to submit issues for consideration.  

While the final National Integrated ICT White Paper was approved by Cabinet in September 2016, it excluded broadcasting inevitably due to the split of telecommunications, postal services and broadcasting.

This meant that the broadcasting policy had to be finalised separately.  

By all admission, these are critical policy processes that touched all these sectors of ICT of which broadcasting is one part.  Therefore, we are not going to replicate these policy processes, but build on them instead.  Not only does the future investment in the industry hinge on this policy, we further need to redefine the role of our broadcasting system with Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan (NDP) pertaining to building social cohesion and deepening democracy at the top of our priorities.

Equally, the stark realities of youth unemployment require us to build a resilient industry that can attract investment, both local and foreign, so that our youth’s creative capacity can be unleashed.  We, therefore, have to move with speed in finalising this new policy.  

Emerging policy issues

As contained in the Issues Paper we released recently on our website, throughout the processes listed above, the following issues have consistently been raised, including but not limited to the following

• The logic of maintaining a 3-tier broadcasting system, given the regulatory incapacity to enforce it;
• Ownership and control rules amid South Africa’s drive to attract investment;
• The capacity of the regulator to regulate the sector;
• The need to strengthen the Free-to-Air platform, particularly the SABC as a public broadcaster;
• The continual carriage of public broadcasting channels by subscription broadcasting services, and the impact on competition and the 3 tier broadcasting system;
• The dwindling and balkanisation of our local languages on broadcasting systems, including addressing access to broadcasting services by people with visual and hearing impairments;
• The skills capacity and the Human Resource requirements of our country for the 4th Industrial Revolution; and lastly
• New institutional arrangements to support the new policy environment consistent with the NDP Vision 2030, the Presidential Review Committee Report (2012) and SOEs reform across government,

The Issues paper containing responses from the various stakeholders on these issues, which henceforth will be at the core of our policy review process, will be released in the next two days via the website of the department of communication. As committed in our Annual Performance Plan (2018/19 Financial Year), our plan is to submit the White Paper for Cabinet Approval in the 4th Quarter of this

Financial Year.  To achieve this plan, the process will be as follows:  

Review of Public broadcasting:  

Our intentions are to start with the review of public broadcasting.  This is not to downplay the importance of other issues confronting the industry and specifically, the other two tiers of broadcasting namely, community and commercial however, public broadcasting remains a significant source of information, knowledge and entertainment for the majority of citizens. 

Again, as noted from the various jurisdictions, issues pertaining to the public require a separate discussion process if they have to be dealt with in a comprehensive manner to address the systematic and historical issues. This underlies the importance of public broadcasting to South Africa as a developing country.  For this purpose, our review process will commence with the review of the public broadcaster and the frameworks that govern it.  

We have already issued a notice inviting stakeholders to submit issues for consideration on matters pertaining to its mandate, funding model, including TV licence fees, governance, and accountability measures. The issue of an appropriate funding model of the public broadcaster for instance has been deferred for too long and we hope this focused discussions on the public broadcaster will finally resolve it. The due date for public submission on the notice is Mid-July 2018.  

This will be followed by a colloquium in August 2018 where a report from the public submission will also be presented.  The outcome of these two processes will be integrated into the broader policy review which will be published for comments in the 3rd Quarter of 2018, thus allowing enough time to obtain Cabinet approval in the 4th Quarter of this Financial Year.   

In this regard, we wish to invite the active participation of the sector in helping create a new vision for the broadcasting sector in our country, for future generations. As government we cannot succeed in doing the above alone without sector participation and partnerships.

The demands of the 4th industrial revolution requires us to build and maintain collaborative partnerships with the sector for us to bridge the digital divide and overcome social inequalities, unemployment and potential job losses. The reskilling of young people for the 4th industrial revolution is inevitable as prioritized by Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan (NDP).

Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT)

Although this is not part of our broadcasting review process, many stakeholders expect us to say something about the DTT project to provide clarity and the way forward.  The numerous project challenges besetting the migration of our broadcasting system from analogue to digital are well-known. This project has since been a stop and go resulting in South Africa not meeting the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) deadline of June 2015.  

I have been informed by our signal distributor Sentech that M-Net has successfully migrated to Digital and as a result have switched-off all their analogue transmitter sites. We deem this to be a significant milestone, and therefore commendable as it releases high demand spectrum for mobile broadband services to our people.  While duly acknowledging some of these achievements, the reality is that we are way behind schedule as the 2015 ITU’s Analogue Switch-Off (ASO) target has been missed.  

This means that SA’s analogue broadcast signals are currently not protected from any possible interference by ITU. As this project continues to be delayed, it has serious implications both for government, industry and our citizens. Having considered all the challenges, a revision to the current delivery model is inevitable if we are to accelerate the country towards the now belated analogue switch-off.
I can confirm that we have reviewed the model to drive the project on the following principles:

• Partnerships and collaborations with industry;
• Efficiency and affordability by building on existing infrastructure and distribution networks;
• Inclusive participation; and
• Transparency and accountability

We will reveal the revised model upon consultation with Cabinet in due course.  

Consistent with the spirit of the 2008 Cabinet approved Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy, government cannot do it alone.  It requires collaboration and partnership with industry and the public so as to share resources, skills and expertise.  

In the meantime we hope to engage in an aggressive strategy to distribute the existing stock of set-top boxes in the identified provinces for migration.  In the next few months, our plan is to leverage on the support from the Free State provincial Government, to switch the province off by the end of December 2018, allowing Sentech to switch off all the analogue transmitters in the provinces.  

This will save us a lot of dual illumination costs for Sentech.  We therefore appeal to the people of the Free State to start applying for the subsidy or purchasing the digital enabled equipment so that when the date of the Free State switch is announced, they are ready and enjoy uninterrupted transmission.   

We have already started to build a dedicated a Project Management Office (PMO) outside the structure of the Department. We hope industry will help us in sharing some of its resources in support of our efforts.   

We are pleased to announce that, Mr Aldred Dreyer, has been appointed to lead our PMO and the entire DTT project in the country.  Mr Dreyer’s knowledge in the project is unparalleled as he recently led a similar project in neighbouring Namibia with great success.   

Through the support of the department, he will be assembling his own team and as a team, they will be engaging the industry. I sincerely hope that the industry will give this team all the support because it is in the interest of all of us, government and industry alike that this project is completed as soon as practically possibly. 

In the next few days, we will also be announcing a revised Advisory Council which will advise the Minister on the various issues, including the Analogue Switch-Off Plan for the country and strategies to increase DTT uptake by the households and support the PMO.  

The Council shall be include representatives of both government and industry to ensure that the project is driven in a joint manner in the spirit of inclusivity.  

Introducing digital radio in South Africa

We have noted the developments around the successful trials conducted by Sentech and other industry players in recent months. Based on the report from the trials, we equally share the belief that South African broadcasting market is fertile for the introduction of Digital radio.

For us, this is critical given the congestion of the FM frequencies in regional markets such as Gauteng.  An introduction of digital radio will allow industry growth and increase diversity within the industry. 

We acknowledge the stakeholder engagement process currently engaged by the regulator, ICASA on the matter. To pave the way for the introduction of Digital radio in South Africa, we will in the next few weeks issue policy directive allowing ICASA to initiate a licencing framework for Digital radio in South Africa in earnest.

On stabilising the SABC

As drawn from Parliament’s ad hoc Committee report, the SABC is not in a stable state, both financially and organisationally. It is my pleasure to announce that it is gradually on a recovery path.

The Board has recently finalised the appointment of the Group Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate both the new Group CEO, Mr Madoda Mxakwe and the CFO, Ms. Yolande van Biljon. We wish them well in their responsibilities and are confident that they will invest their skills.

These appointments follow that of the Chief Operations Officer who was appointed earlier this year.  We hope this will go a long way in stabilising leadership and governance at the organisation.  

The 2008 Cabinet approved Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) Policy has identified the SABC as a leader in driving DTT in South Africa. With the 2019 General elections looming, many South Africans, particularly in rural areas will be relying on the SABC as a public broadcaster in providing them with information.  

Therefore, the SABC has to be in a strong position to accomplish these tasks.  

On our part we have established a joint turnaround team comprising the DOC, National Treasury and the SABC led by a Turnaround specialist, to help in developing and implementing a Turnaround plan for the organisation, including dealing with systematic issues that continue to inhibit the SABC’s performance and sustainability.  

We are working around the clock with National Treasury to stabilise the financial position of the SABC so that it can meet its financial obligations to its creditors and acquire new content.

Equally, this is a task that requires the involvement of the public who have to pay their TV licences fees so as to ameliorate the funding challenges the public broadcaster currently faces.  This is important as we review the public broadcaster in the medium to long term through the policy process as outlined earlier. 

As mentioned earlier during our Budget Vote speech in Parliament, the end of the current administration is near. Ours is not to promise a lot of things, but a few things that are realistic, but equally setting a good foundation on which the next administration will deliver. The measures announced this morning are critical on this path and we require your support as the media in relaying this information to the public, especially on DTT.   

Once more, in all the above measures, we wish to emphasize the importance of Partnerships for the sector to succeed and thrive.

 

Issued by Department of Communications