Friday, February 7, 2025

MultiChoice Botswana says it has switched off ‘Magic Box’ but suspicions remain

Multichoice, the digital pay television broadcaster, has successfully managed to intercept television signals that were being picked up by ‘Magic Box’ free of charge.

Describing Botswana as a safe haven of piracy in the pay television industry, especially in the Southern African region, MultiChoice hired experts to snuff out the illegal signals that were being picked by ‘Magic Box’.

Three television experts were brought to Botswana to cut off the signal that enables the public to view pay TV unlawfully through the Chinese product, which is being sold secretly in selected shops across the country.

Billy Sekgororoane of Multi Choice Botswana told The Telegraph that “Botswana is a safe haven of piracy and the company invited some specialists who form part of the police investigation team”.

He said that his company took a decision to bring in the experts to analyze the product intensively and they successfully managed to cut off the Magic Box signal after examining the product.

“The Magic Box gave us a headache in the sense that people were watching channels unlawfully and we lost huge amounts of money through that product,” he said.

Multi Choice lodged a complaint with the police and some dealers selling the product were raided, confiscating many of the decoders.

“Our stand as Multi Choice is that we want those who have been arrested to be prosecuted and that will be a land mark case in the country,” Sekgororoane said.

Shops in Gaborone that The Telegraph visited randomly no longer had the ‘Magic box’ on the shelves. It is now suspected that the item is being sold privately.

Although Sekgororoane said the signal has been cut, our investigations reveal that those who long bought the product are still viewing the channels without any disturbance.

A month ago, the Serious Crime Squad raided some Chinese shops in Broadhurst and the African Mall. Six suspects of Chinese origin were arrested and over a thousand ‘Magic Box’ decoders impounded.

RELATED STORIES

Read this week's paper