Programme Director
Deputy Minister, the Honourable Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams
President of NAMEC, Keith Thabo
Leadership of NAMEC here present
Captains of Industry – CEOs and Chairpersons of companies
Representatives from Labour
Ladies and gentlemen.
It is a great pleasure to address this august meeting this morning. I am very pleased to stand before you and to interact with a very important stakeholder in our DTT programme, the manufacturers in our country.
2013 is the year for the full launch of Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting implementation in our country. In the course of the second quarter of the year, we will announce the DTT performance period as mandated by the Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy we adopted in 2012.
It has been a long and arduous road of pubic consultations on policy and strategies, project planning and management since the process started in 2006.
The department working together with the ICT industry has overseen the adoption of Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) policy that guides our country as we migrate to digital technologies. Our government is eager to usher-in the full benefits of digital television in the country.
These benefits include the new multiple services channels for television programming that appeals to our peoples cultural and linguistic diversity, content that informs, educate and entertains rooted in the goals of achieving a people-centred, development oriented inclusive information and knowledge society. Our digital content transmission will also cater for the needs of women, children, minorities and people with disabilities.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are here today to speak at this NAMEC organised conference to listen and to share information on issues which has for some time been raised in the media, which ought to be discussed by all of us, such that we share in our responsibilities a common destiny for taking our country forward.
NAMEC is a manufacturing association, consisting largely of emerging manufacturers in the country. Having been launched in 2010, NAMEC has become a critical voice in the national discourse of delivering economic and social benefits to the people of this country.
NAMEC speaks for small and macro enterprises, which made calls that the implementation of the DTT programme has to benefit all players in the value chain. We are here because we have also realised that the issues being raised regarding DTT and other programmes require that we give open attention to them and to ensure that we provide leadership and direction on these matters.
The policy choices we make as a country, and in this regard Digital Migration, will ensure that the process is not only about modernising technology, but that it also addresses our socio-economic, developmental and infrastructure challenges we face.
This sector has an important role to play in contributing to the fight against the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and under-development. Through dedicated efforts to create jobs in the sector we can help pull our people from the bondage of poverty.
Through our people-centred approach to development, our people can be their own economic liberators in their attainment of real democratic freedom. The roll-out of DTT thus gives us a unique opportunity to achieve some of these important goals. The local manufacturing and the roll-out of millions of Set-Top Box (STB) decoders to consumers is regarded as one of the key factors for successful digital migration.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The BDM Policy submits that South Africa is one of the pioneers in STB technologies with initial designs and manufacturing in the early 1990. The Cabinet has therefore approved key policies and strategies to ensure that the South African electronics industry, SMMES and the poor benefit in the migration to digital broadcasting technologies.
The BDM Policy has already pronounced that STBs critical for digital migration shall be primarily sourced locally. This decision has already boosted our electronics manufacturing industry which has seen huge foreign direct investment and stimulated interest amongst global players to partner with local manufacturers in both skills and technology transfer programmes.
The Set Top Box (STB) Manufacturing Sector Development Strategy as approved by the Cabinet in March 2012 already provides a framework for a sound, transformed STB electronics industry that creates jobs for thousands of our people while at the same time brings new players from disadvantaged groups and SMME participation.
The installation and services of this equipment will usher jobs and technical skills to many of our youth. We have also observed the positive steps shown by our development financing institutions such as the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) investing in our local companies to deliver DTT manufactured components.
We certainly hope that as the multi-media market continues to grow, our industry will start manufacturing other devices, not only STBs but also integrated digital televisions, mobile TV gadgets and other digital media equipment. The Cabinet has also approved the STB Scheme for Ownership Support Framework (STB subsidy) in 2012 to assist 5 million poor TV owning households with up to 70% of the price of the box.
This decision ensures that all our people enjoy the benefits of the digital age and they can also advance themselves economically by having access to information and opportunities. This decision also guarantees a market to the manufacturers and retailers of STBs.
We are positive that these decisions by our government will form the cornerstone for sustainable economic growth in the ICT manufacturing sector, and introduce new and emerging players that were previously left out. Many of them are here today. Furthermore, this will stimulate the growth of the economy in line with the objectives of our National Industrial Policy.
It will further encourage e-commerce activities and expand the ICT infrastructure, linking rural and urban communities as well as uplifting the poor through information sharing, which will be made possible through the introduction of new channels. Like other sectors of the economy, the ICT sector has to respond appropriately to ensure that we continue delivering better services to all our people.
As Government, we want this process to contribute to job creation and the alleviation of poverty, to the development of strong SMMEs in the Sector, the inclusion of young people and women, particularly in the rural areas where possible.
In support of these goals, the Department of Trade and Industry has supported the introduction of component tax for all imports of STBs in support of local electronic manufacturing industry.
In addition, Minister Davies has introduced the local content quota regulations for the manufacturing of STBs specifically. These important measures will go a long way in creating a base for South African companies to build capacity to support the SADC (Southern African Development Community) market in particular and the African continent in general.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As you know, the issue of STB Control System has been a thorny topic in the country. Over time, stakeholders have expressed various views about this issue, some of these views are by manufacturers who purport that by including this services we are unnecessarily creating a financial cost for an element which we will not use.
On one hand, broadcasters consider the control system as a service which will help them bring innovation into broadcasting by rendering several types of broadcasting services.
Certain sections of the Manufacturing industry have raised concerns that these system will drive up the high cost of manufacturing STBs, thereby affecting their business potential. The associated issue being raised is that the environment for compliance with certification needs to be fair and transparent for big and small manufacturers.
As you know, our BDM Policy is clear on the benefits of STB Control and these include trade and cross border unauthorised use as well as theft. In addition, the system is designed to support communicating to the public in case of disaster and government messaging transmission.
The STB Control implementation is in the hands of free-to-air broadcasters as per the court judgment on the matter. To-date, we are awaiting the decision of broadcasters on the details of their approach to this matter.
We are very concerned with the slow progress in finalising the control system, including the appointment of the control vendor to run the system for the transmission of broadcast content in digital format.
We are here to listen and understand the concerns and the views of stakeholders here present on any issues you may raise. We believe that together we can do more to better the lives of our people. May this discussion be the last on this subject to allow the country to launch and unleash the full benefits of digital broadcasting to our people.
I thank you.
