MultiChoice′s R500m broadcasting agreement with SABC will be probed
Competition commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele says top court’s ruling clears up the ambiguity about the Competition Commission′s power to investigate
Details of the R500m broadcasting agreement between video entertainment group MultiChoice and national broadcaster SABC will be investigated and the results made public by the Competition Commission following a Constitutional Court ruling on Friday. The court ruled that the Competition Appeal Court could not limit the powers of an investigation by the commission. The five-year agreement, which gave MultiChoice, Africa’s largest pay television operator, the right to broadcast SABC’s 24-hour news channel and an entertainment channel, sparked widespread criticism in November 2017, when parliament received information that appeared to confirm that as part of the deal SABC undertook to back MultiChoice’s position on encryption of set-top boxes. MultiChoice, which is an 80% controlled subsidiary of global internet group Naspers, has just launched plans for a separate listing on the JSE. Competition commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele welcomed the Court’s ruling and said the commission would ...
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