Court battle over analogue TV switch-off begins

The legal action brought by e.tv against communications minister Solly Malatsi, in which the broadcaster is contending the 31 March 2025 deadline for analogue televisions switch-off, has kicked off at the high court in Pretoria.

E.tv in January filed papers with the court arguing that Malatsi had – like his predecessor, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni – prematurely set the analogue switch-off date without consulting industry stakeholders.

“Government failed to consult on the ASO (analogue switch-off) date before deciding to set 31 March 2025 as the date,” e.tv said in its heads of arguments to the court.

“On 28 November 2024, the minister informed stakeholders that the previous ASO date of 31 December 2024 would not be extended. On 5 December 2025, the minister told stakeholders that the deadline was now 31 March 2025. There was no consultation in between. Stakeholders were never advised that government was considering an extension to 31 March nor were they asked to comment on whether 31 March was a viable and reasonable date before a final decision was taken.”

As court proceedings kicked off on Tuesday morning, legal counsel for e.tv Gilbert Marcus started by addressing claims by Malatsi – as stated in his answering affidavit – that the decision to set the analogue switch-off deadline for 31 March was made by cabinet and not Malatsi himself. Marcus argued that cabinet “usurped” Malatsi’s decision-making powers on the matter, making it illegal.

Law is ‘clear’

“There is simply no doubt that the decision to set the ASO deadline of 31 March 2025 deadline was taken by cabinet and not by the minister. The law in this regard is clear, having been settled by the constitutional court: it has held that the power to set the ASO deadline is vested in the minister and not the cabinet,” Marcus told the court.

He said it was neither unwise nor improper for Malatsi to consult with cabinet on the matter, given that “broader national interests” were at stake. What is “impermissible”, Marcus said, is for cabinet to usurp Malatsi’s decision-making powers.

Read: E.tv drags Solly Malatsi to court over March digital TV deadline

Marus pointed out that Malatsi said in his responding affidavit that President Cyril Ramaphosa, also one of the respondents in the matter, opposed the relief sought by e.tv and others. The other respondents arguing alongside e.tv are industry groups Media Monitoring Africa and the SOS Support Broadcasting Coalition. Malatsi said the president would file papers with the court expressing government’s opposition, but those documents were never submitted.

“At the case management meeting, a deadline was set for the president to file any affidavits he would wish to put up – none has been forthcoming, which has an important legal consequence,” said Marcus.

E.tv’s other arguments rest on the premise that government has failed to prepare the public adequately for the migration to digital broadcasts. Marcus told the court rate of set-top-box installations – a project run by Sentech and the Universal Service & Access Agency of South Africa – was too slow and had not reached the point where enough installations had been done to justify switching off analogue broadcasts.

Marcus argued that government had failed in its distribution efforts and did not have a plan regarding set-top-box distribution.

Read: 220 000 set-top boxes, 63 days: Sentech’s mission impossible?

“The minister (Malatsi) does not deny this fact. He admits that when cabinet took the decision to set 31 March 2025 as the switch-off date, it considered only how ‘Sentech will appoint additional installers and procure additional set-top-boxes to meet the demand’. This is not a plan,” said Marcus.

Media Monitoring Africa and the SOS Coalition will provide their heads of arguments next, before Malatsi’s legal team presents its case later in the day.  – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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