Parliament has been told South Africa would be not be ready to broadcast the 2010 Soccer World Cup without massive infrastructure investment, Business Day reported on Tuesday.
Multibillion-rand investments in digital broadcasting transmission was needed to properly serve a worldwide television audience, Sentech officials warned on Monday.
They told Parliament’s communications portfolio committee the antiquated 30-year-old transmission infrastructure of the state-owned company was in grave need of a revamp.
Sentech operates the country’s broadcasting signal distribution network.
Chief executive Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane said there would chaos if the transmission system broke down, as she feared it could.
Chairperson Colin Hickling said the company was seriously ”under-capitalised”.
There were no spares available for Sentech’s outdated and almost redundant equipment, resulting in protracted repairs.
”The pool of technicians available to maintain the equipment is almost depleted as many have reached retirement age,” Hickling said. – Sapa