BULAWAYO electronic companies are recording brisk businesses after the switching off of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) channels, as they have pushed up the prices of DStv decoders.
Report by Blondie Ndebele
Stranded Zimbabweans have been left with no choice but to buy DStv decoders at an extra cost, as businesspeople seek to cash in on increased demand.
DStv decoder prices before the SABC channels were disconnected were ranging from $35 to $45, however, due to the switching off of Wiztech and Philibao decoders, prices for the decoders have now been increased to between $50 and $70.
MultiChoice Zimbabwe sells them for $75.
A company in the central business district, Broadsat, has increased its prices from between $40 and $45 to $50 and a salesperson said they had no choice but to increase the prices as the demand was high in the past week.
“A lot of people wanted the decoders after the switching off of SABC channels, so we then decided to increase the prices to get more cash. People are still coming, though they are now few,” Fungai Mumba said. Another company housed at Africa House is charging as much as $60.
“We increased our prices because where we get these decoders they also increased after the SABC channels were cut. But people are still buying anyway because they want an alternative to ZBC.” Lisa Khumalo, a salesperson, explained.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
While other companies are increasing their prices, CA Covenant has reduced in an effort to lure more customers.
“We have reduced our price to $40 because all the companies are charging $50. We are hoping that we would get more customers from that,” a company representative said.
Some companies have even given their clients options to register their DStv decoders in South Africa, so they can continue accessing the SABC channels.
An estimated three million Zimbabweans were reportedly accessing SABC channels through pirated signals, but this came to an abrupt halt after SABC encrypted its signal.
