The launch of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa will create thousands of jobs in one of the poorest areas of the country, and could add tens of thousands in a later nationwide rollout, as South Africa migrates from an analogue signal to a digital broadcasting system. 

Communications minister Dina Pule was in Motswedimosa outside Kimberley, Northern Cape yesterday [3 October] for the first phrase in a campaign to raise awareness around the DTT process, according to South African government news agency, SAnews.

Minister Pule added that if DTT worked in the Northern Cape, it could work anywhere else in the country, as the Northern Cape is home to 30 communities that either never had broadcasting coverage or had poor and unreliable coverage.

Apart from providing better picture quality, enhanced clarity, more channels and content, thousands of jobs will also be created, she added.

"We envisage that 800 jobs will be created in the manufacturing industry: 20,000 youth will be trained in the installation and maintenance of STBs and ultimately, we trust that up to 6,000 youth will be entrepreneurial and run their businesses," she said.

Around 4,000 call centre operators will be employed to deal with queries relating to the STBs, while the South African Post Office will have to employ an additional 500 staff to assist with the distribution of STBs.

In total, 40,000 job opportunities are expected to be created across the country within 12 months of the rollout of digital migration.