Progress of South Africa’s digital migration project is like watching the Titanic movie. You know the collision will happen, the ship will sink, and you know it’s too late to change the script.

That’s IT veteran Adrian Schofield’s analogous take on the country’s Broadcasting Digital Migration programme, where the South African government promised to supply free set-top boxes (STBs) to over five million households that depend on social grants, and those with an income of less than R3 200 per month.