Entities under the Department of Communications collected over R250 million since the digital migration deadline was suspended.
Image for illustrative purposes. Picture: iStock
Government is still raking in millions meant to fund the stalled project to switch from analogue to digital broadcasting.
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) recently confirmed it collected over R250 million per year for a project that was meant to be completed over 10 years ago.
A switch from analogue to digital broadcasting was approved in 2008, with a multitude of deadlines missed, most recently in March 2025.
While still collecting millions annually, more than half a billion in inventory was written off in the last financial year.
DCDT confirmed in an August portfolio committee that a new deadline had not been set, with a new date being relayed once “ongoing engagements and consultations with the relevant stakeholders” had been completed.
Digital migration funding
The figures on digital migration were revealed in a written response to a parliamentary question at the end of September.
The department stated that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) had collected R1.2 billion between the 2021-22 and 2025-26 financial years.
In 2021-22, the department’s entities collected R249 million, with that amount rising to R281 million in the last financial year.
The funds go to the Universal Services and Access Fund, which falls under the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA).
USAASA lists its two strategic national funding priorities as being the “seamless transition from analogue to digital TV” and the expansion of high-speed broadband internet access to underserved communities.
“[These are] funded through mandatory contributions from telecom operators. USAF invests in infrastructure, affordability, and public awareness to bridge the digital divide,” USAASA stated.
R567 million written off
USAASA recorded R1.6 billion in rollover funds against overall expenditure of R1.08 billion, with the department stressing that expenditure could be funded from retained or rollover funds approved by National Treasury.
Rollover funds peaked between 2021-22 and 2023-24 at R2.8 billion for each of those three years, dropping to R1.2 billion and R1.6 billion in subsequent years.
“Where expenditure exceeded the annual DCDT drawdown, this reflects expenditure funded from approved retained or rollover funds and does not constitute an overspend of the total funds available,” the department stated.
In the last financial year, the actual expenditure factored in the writing off of R567 million worth of digital migration inventory related to previous years.
Additionally, USAASA further reported R270 million in unutilised broadband expenditure meant for another state-owned communications company Broadband Infraco.
“The principal factors affecting utilisation over the period were delays in the broadcasting digital migration set-top-box installation programme and delays in broadband project implementation,” the department stated.
Public ‘continue to bear the cost’
The digital migration was first approved in 2008 and was initially due to be completed in 2015, after which multiple deadlines were missed.
The expected March 2025 switch to digital was suspended by the North Gauteng High Court, with Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) then calling for consequences.
Outa suggested that government departments needed to answer for their role in the “delayed and inefficient” digital migration, as well as ensuring steps were taken to address wasteful expenditure tied to the analogue switch.
This would also include a mass distribution of set-top boxes to indigent households and public awareness on the implications of the migration.
“Parliament must ensure government accountability and enforce consequence management. The public cannot continue to bear the cost of mismanagement and failure,” stated Outa Executive Director for Accountability Stefanie Fick.
