Where to stream live news in South Africa

There are a number of options for South Africans wanting to keep up to date with all developing stories from around the world through live news streaming on various platforms.

We’ve arranged them here in ascending order by cost. Happy streaming!

YouTube: free

What you’ll get: Live news streams in your browser without a paid subscription.

Channels offered: While local news channels SABC and ENCA don’t have 24-hour live news streams on YouTube, they do offer some live streaming of important events and press conferences. At the time of writing in September 2020, examples of these include a live stream of the State Capture Inquiry, and provincial government addresses on the challenges faced by municipalities during the Covid-19 crisis.

There are also a number of uploads of previous live streams to catch up on.

For an international perspective on news, South Africans have access to ABC News, Sky News and Al Jazeera English’s 24-hour live streams on YouTube.

The downside to streaming news on YouTube is the ads, and the rather distracting live chat windows.

DStv Now: from R29 to R819 per month

DStv Now is the mobile version of DStv, available in web browsers and in app form on smartphones and tablets.

What you’ll get: Live news streams on the DStv Now app or now.dstv.com in your browser. Navigate to Live TV and click on the News & Commerce button. All DStv subscribers get access to DStv Now, no matter what package they’re on.

Channels offered: This depends on your package.

For R29 per month, EasyView offers the local news channels SABC and Newzroom Afrika plus CNBC Africa and Al Jazeera for international news.

The next package up is Access, for R110 per month, which offers more or less the same live news channels as EasyView with the addition of BBC World News and Africanews. The Family package, for R279 per month, offers the same as Access with the addition of Euronews and ENCA. Compact, for R399 per month, offers the same as the Family package with the addition of CNN International. Compact Plus, for R529 per month, has the same news channels as Compact, with Sky News as an addition. Finally, Premium, for R819 per month, offers the full bouquet of live news channels, including Bloomberg.

Showmax Pro: R225 per month or R449 per month

Showmax Pro bundles the existing Showmax catalogue with live news channels and music channels as well as live sports streaming from SuperSport. Read more here.

What you’ll get: Live news in your browser from a number of news channels or in the Showmax Pro app for smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, Android TV and Apple TV.

Showmax Pro Mobile (R225 per month) only offers apps for smartphones and tablets, with a single stream on one device per subscriber.

Showmax Pro (R449 per month) allows for two concurrent streams on up to five devices per subscriber.

Channels offered: Both Showmax Pro and Showmax Pro Mobile subscribers get access to the same live news channels.

For local news, that’s SABC News (in South Africa only) and Newzroom Afrika, with Africanews and Euronews for international news.