More than 600 qualifying indigent households have already registered for government subsidised set-top boxes (STBs) in Ntambanana village in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal.
The registrations took place ahead of Tuesday’s digital terrestrial television (DTT) awareness campaign, which will be led by Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and her team.
The registrations for STBs will help poor TV-owning households to view digital signals as South Africa switches from analogue to digital broadcasting.
DTT programme manager at the Department of Communications, Fhatuwani Mutuvhi, said: “During our door-to-door registration campaign for qualifying indigent households, we registered over 600 indigent households two days before the Minister’s DTT awareness campaign — a clear indication that people in this rural area are also excited to get subsidised STBs, which will enable them to enjoy an improved television watching experience.
“Digital migration is here and we are anticipating to register 1 000 more [households] at the end of this awareness campaign later today,” Mutuvhi said.
He said the door-to-door registration was particularly aimed at the elderly and people with disabilities, as well as those qualifying families who, for credible reasons, are unable to go to their nearest post office for registration.
Minister Muthambi has encouraged people to come in their numbers to register for STBs at Ntambanana Sportsground today.
“We are saying to poor households in Ward 17 in Umfolozi Local Municipality here in KwaZulu-Natal – don’t miss this opportunity. Come and register.”
Government is providing free STBs to five million poor TV-owning households across the country. Poor households are urged to register for free STBs at their local Post Office branches.
In order to qualify, households must earn less than R3 200 per month. More details on qualification criteria are available at Post Office branches.
Registrations for STBs are also underway in the Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Registrations will open in the North West, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Gauteng at a later stage.
Priority is given to the provinces along the country’s borders in order to minimise the prospects of signal interference with neighbouring countries that are ready to use the mobile communication services in the spectrum currently used by analogue television transmissions.
Source: South African Government News Agency