adminTemba Dube Senior Reporter
A NUMBER of shops that were selling Wiztech and Philibao decoders in Bulawayo have shut down after the receivers became worthless following the encryption of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) signal on Monday. A number of shop owners, especially Nigerians, who had set up business to sell free to air decoders in the city were left stranded with thousands of dollars worth of the receivers.
Millions of Zimbabweans who used to access SABC 1, 2 and 3 free of charge through decoders like Wiztech, Philibao, Fortec Star and Vivid were left watching screens that carried the message that the channels had been scrambled, when the channels went off air.
A shop owner who was operating from the Parkade Centre yesterday said he might soon shut down because he would not be able pay rent.
“I have a lot of stock and I have another order of Philibaos on the way, from Dubai. The decoders were my main business. Now that they have become useless, I have to come up with another line of business, quickly otherwise I will close shop at the end of the month,” said the man who declined to be named.
He said he was coming from paying rent for July when he heard of the bad news.
“People, a number of whom had bought decoders in June just to watch the Confederations Cup, began calling me saying the decoders were no longer working. I panicked when the number of callers increased. Friends who are also in the same business began calling. We did not know what to tell our customers. My worst fears were confirmed when I read the Chronicle on Wednesday and learnt that the decoders had become useless,” said the man.
A number of cross border traders who bought free to air decoders in neighbouring South Africa said they had made losses.
“My business is small and I can only buy 10 decoders at a time. I make marginal profits. I have been stocking decoders in preparation of high sales that we often experience in December. All my money is tied in the stock of about 30 decoders that I have at home,” said Ms Lungile Khanye of Gwabalanda.
Meanwhile, scores of Bulawayo residents may have lost money to con artists who were charging up to $40 to “reconnect” SABC channels.
A number of backyard technicians who claimed that they could bring back the channels, have disappeared from their “workstations” and they are no longer reachable on their mobile numbers.
They claimed that people who paid them would get the channels by yesterday.
Some of the technicians claimed that they could bring back the channels for people who had old model analog decoders.
However, a survey by Chronicle yesterday revealed that the only people who had SABC were those who subscribed to DSTV in South Africa.
Zimbabweans are addicted to television soap operas that include Isidingo, Muvhango, Generations and 7 de laan, which they used to watch on SABC.
The witching off of SABC was a big blow to the estimated 2,4 million viewers who were accessing it on free to air decoders.
SABC went off air after South African signal carrier, Sentech was ordered by the court to encrypt the signal so that the channels could not be beamed outside the neighbouring country.
Viewers in countries that include Botswana, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Angola where free-to-air decoders were prevalent, were also affected.
Online Reporter