SA is migrating from analogue broadcasting to digital, with the deadline to switch off the analogue signal set for December next year. The migration process has suffered long delays since the Cabinet took the decision to migrate in 2006.
Communications Minister Dina Pule told Parliament last month that the digital project was at risk due to a lack of funding.
However, deputy director general Sam Vilakazi told Parliament's communications portfolio committee on Tuesday there was sufficient funding to "at least get things going".
It emerged last month that some of the key entities in the migration project had not received sufficient funding from the Treasury. The SABC, for example, had requested more than R7bn for the digital project, but received only R138m. Signal distributor Sentech's budget shortfall was R1,29bn.
Vilakazi told Parliament during the department's strategic plan and annual performance plan presentation yesterday the shortfalls had been addressed.
He said the business cases of most of the entities, some of which were submitted last year, had not been approved by the Treasury.
"It is not as if there are no business cases ... the entities are just sharpening those business cases which they will (re)submit to the Treasury around June or July, with the hope that funding will be secured," said Vilakazi.
"We have a picture of what is currently available and what will be the shortfall. This effectively means that work can continue. The only issue is that it will not be enough to cover the entire funding requirement by 2015."
In its corporate plan for the medium-term expenditure framework 2012-15, presented to Parliament yesterday, Sentech said the procurement of all major DTT project components would be completed by next month, "thus ensuring Sentech concentrates on project implementation".
Democratic Alliance MP Marian Shinn said it was of "concern" that funding had still not been secured. "One wonders why funding was not secured before projects were embarked on ... if one looks at DTT, (the deadline) is a couple of months away and set-top boxes have not been acquired."
Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
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