The high court in Pretoria has ruled in favour of broadcaster e.tv in its bid to stop communications minister Solly Malatsi from switching off analogue television broadcasts on 31 March.
The judgment is a political setback for Malatsi, who had set the deadline for switch-off and then refused to budge even as he was dragged to court by e.tv.
E.tv filed suit against Malatsi in January after the minister announced in December that all analogue broadcasts would be switched off at the end of March, or next Monday.
In its application, the broadcaster accused Malatsi of repeating a mistake made by his predecessor, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, by not consulting industry stakeholders before deciding on a date for analogue switch-off.
“The operation of the analogue switch-off date of 31 March 2025, as announced by the minister of communications and digital technologies of 5 December 2024, is suspended; and the minister is interdicted from taking any steps to implement the switch-off of analogue signals and ending dual illumination,” said Judge Selby Baqwa in the ruling, which was handed down on Thursday.
Read: E.tv drags Solly Malatsi to court over March digital TV deadline
Baqwa also slapped Malatsi with a costs order, which includes the cost of legal counsel for e.tv as the first respondent in the case, as well as those of industry lobby groups Media Monitoring African and the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition, which were the second and their respondents, respectively. — (c) 2025 NewsCentral Media
- This is a breaking story that is being updated regularly
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