Sentech fights SABC blackout order
18/06/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
MILLIONS of Zimbabweans viewing free-to-air South African TV channels are likely to continue receiving the service for several more months after a South African firm responsible for the signal challenged a court ruling directing it to end the piracy.
Botswana broadcaster eBotswana, a sister channel to South Africa’s etv, won a lawsuit in the Johannesburg High Court in February against the state-owned signal carrier, Sentech.
The court ordered Sentech to "take all reasonable steps necessary" to encrypt its signal within the next three months, after finding it guilty of being "wrongful, negligent and in breach" over its failure to prevent broadcast piracy.
The three-month transmission grace period ended on May 31, but Sentech have appealed against the court ruling – meaning millions of people in the SADC region who receive the free channels including SABC 1, 2 and 3 will continue to do so pending the outcome of the appeal.
SABC say they have no control over the signal, and lay the blame squarely at the feet of Sentech.
Spokesman Kaizer Kganyago told South Africa’s Business Day: "We broadcast in SA and Sentech is in charge of ensuring the signal is protected and stays in SA. Anybody who is not in SA and is watching SABC content terrestrially is doing so illegally."
eBotswana General Manager Dave Coles said Monday that Sentech lodged the appeal in May, and had so far not paid the P10 million damages award nor encrypted its signal.
Free-to-air decoders including Wiztech, Fortec Star and Philibao have created a booming market for satellite TV viewership in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Botswana.
MultiChoice Zimbabwe, which offers pay-TV on its DStv platform, is eyeing massive benefits from the looming blackout.
Zimbabwe does not have an independent TV channel and rights activists fear a blackout would lead to a large section of the population living off a diet of biased pro-Zanu PF broadcasting.
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