DStv Zimbabwe recently surprised shocked its customers with the announcement of a reduction of the prices on some of its bouquets.
The issue of steep prices from the pay TV company has been a pain point for years and its not just Zimbabweans that complain about it. In fact, its one of the reasons why a number of subscribers from Zimbabwe and other countries figure out workarounds to sign up for DStv South Africa which is cheaper.
So just how much cheaper is DStv South Africa? We compared the two and the results actually show that following the price reductions the Zimbabwean option is still more expensive but the difference between DStv Zimbabwe bouquet prices and DStv South Africa prices is now significantly smaller.
For some bouquets its actually now negligible (US$1 for DStv Family for example). This is unlike the earlier price difference that made it so much easier for subscribers to opt for DStv South Africa given the chance.
| DStv South Africa Package | DStv South Africa price (in Rands) | DStv Zimbabwe equivalent's price (in Rands) | DStv South Africa price (in $US) | DStv Zimbabwe price (in $US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DStv Premium | 759 | 1,001 | 55 | 72 |
| Extra | 459 | 653 | 33 | 47 |
| Compact | 345 | 389 | 25 | 28 |
| Family | 219 | 236 | 16 | 17 |
| Select | 219 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Access | 99 | 152 | 7 | 11 |
| EasyView | 29 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| M-Net Analogue/CSN | 369 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| DStv Indian | 345 | 486 | 25 | 35 |
| XtraView Access Fee | 85 | 152 | 6 | 11 |
This could mean that MultiChoice Africa (its the company that MultiChoice Zimbabwe falls under) is trying to lower prices while maintaining them at profitable levels that are close to what MultiChoice South Africa is offering.
At the end of the day subscribers that have been opting for DStv South Africa because of price issues will have less reason to if there isn’t much of a difference.
However, that’s not to say DStv Zimbabwe and MultiChoice Africa are going to win people’s hearts straight away. Any difference in price is still a good enough reason for subscribers on rogue DStv South Africa accounts to opt for the Zimbabwean version.
There’s also the difference in channels which means South Africa still provides “more for the same price”. This is a major issue for live sports (SuperSport has always been the deal maker for DStv) and any fans of SABC content.
For now, though, it’s important to note that until the South African Rand strengthens (which will make DStv South Africa more expensive) the difference in price has been significantly reduced.
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