Multichoice has announced that DStv package prices are going up in South Africa. The price “adjustment” is a 2.7% uptick across all packages starting from April 1st 2022 and here are the new prices…

“We realise that customers remain under pressure two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. These adjustments will help us to ensure that South Africans continue to enjoy the best value, and unrivalled access to entertainment, anywhere, anytime, and at the most affordable price.”

Nyiko Shiburi, MultiChoice South Africa CEO (via MyBroadband)
Packages 2021 Price 2022 Price Zim Prices (USD)
DStv Premium R829 R839 (US$55.16) 75.00
DStv Compact Plus R539 R549 (US$36.09) 45.00
DStv Compact R409 R429 (US$28.21) 29.00
DStv Family R295 R309 (US$20.32) 19.00
DStv Access R115 R120 (US$7.89) 13.00
Add-ons 2021 Price 2022 Price
Access Fee R105 R110
Box Office R40 R40
I am aware that there are some Zimbos who have SA decoders so they can pay the cheap prices that South Africans enjoy (as well as the programming). The new DStv Packages prices are about R5 – R20 increase which I don’t think will make that much of an impact to locals who have SA Decoders, if we are comparing them to the Zimbabwe variants of these packages.

However, it should be mentioned that DStv’s price is below the 4.9% CPI that the South African Reserve Bank forecasted. This could be Multichoice giving itself some headroom for another price increase later if the projection holds true…

What about the rest of Africa?
The last price increase I can remember was in 2020 for us in Zimbabwe. That adjustment was reportedly made because of the 14.5% VAT charged, and it should also be mentioned that the increase in 2020 was the first in 4 years. Additionally, Multichoice hasn’t, as far as I have seen, said anything about prices for other markets going up.-techzim