"It will protect the government investment in set-top boxes so that the box cannot be used outside the boundaries of South Africa," Muthambi told reporters following Cabinet's fortnightly meeting on Wednesday.

She said the boxes would be provided free to more than five million households, who would be identified using the national means test.

Muthambi said migration to digital would start on June 17, and the provision of free sets to the poor would expedite the process, but government would only announce a switch-off date later.

"Now given all the issues that we have raised earlier we are prepared to say that come June 17, 2015 that we will switch on as a country.

"So as government, Cabinet has given us the policy to say we need to start with the switch-on and then, having assembled the team, if it is all systems go, we will be able to go to Cabinet and announce the switch-off date."

Migration has been in the pipeline since 2008. The announcement spells the end of a long wrangle over whether to include a control system. Muthambi initially argued against control, but the ANC earlier this year made it clear that it disagreed.

Muthambi said she did not expect migration to take several years, as it had in other countries.

Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said to further expedite the process, roll-out priority would be given to border areas.