What accreditation actually means
MultiChoice runs an accreditation programme for DStv installers. Accredited technicians are trained on the current product range — Explora, Explora Ultra, HD decoders, Extra View linking — and are held to an installation standard covering alignment, cabling, connectors and safe working practice. Accreditation is about competence and accountability: there is a standard, and there is somebody to answer to if the work does not meet it.
It is not a guarantee of a perfect job, and it does not set prices. What it does is remove the bottom end of the market from your shortlist, which on the False Bay coast matters more than it would inland, because a substandard installation here fails much faster.
Six checks before you book
- Ask directly whether they are MultiChoice accredited, and expect a straight answer rather than a deflection about years of experience. Experience and accreditation are different things, and a good installer has both.
- Check that they will quote before they work. A written quote with a callout fee, labour and parts listed separately is the baseline. "We will see when we get there" is not a quote.
- Ask what cable and connectors they use. You want quality RG6 and weatherproof compression F-connectors. If the answer is vague, or if somebody proposes to reuse the existing perished cable on a coastal property, that tells you what the job will look like.
- Ask how they align the dish. The correct answer involves a signal meter and multiple transponders. The wrong answer involves the decoder's on-screen signal bar and a phone call to somebody in the lounge.
- Ask what the workmanship warranty covers and for how long. Then ask what happens if the same fault recurs a month later. The answer should be immediate and specific.
- Ask for local references. On the False Bay coast this is more useful than a general review score. An installer who works Simon's Town regularly knows about the salt, the wind exposure and the awkward north-east lines of sight without being told.
The most revealing question: "What will you do differently here because we are 300 metres from the sea?" An installer who works this coast will have a specific answer about connectors, sealing and bracket hardware. One who does not will treat it as a normal job — and it is not.
Red flags worth walking away from
- Cash only, no invoice, no paperwork. There is then no warranty in any meaningful sense, because there is no record that the work happened.
- A price quoted over the phone for a property nobody has seen, on a job where the line of sight is the whole question. Indicative ranges are fine; a firm price sight-unseen on a complex install is not.
- Pressure to pay in full upfront before any work starts.
- Selling you hardware you did not ask about — a bigger dish or an amplifier — as the fix for an obstruction or alignment problem. Neither solves either.
- No safety equipment for roof work. If the approach to working at height on a wet Simon's Town roof is casual, that is both their risk and yours.
- Refusal to show you the final signal readings. A technician who has done the job properly is usually pleased to show you the numbers.
What a proper quote contains
You should be able to read a quote and know exactly what will happen. Ours, and any good one, sets out: the callout or site visit fee; the installation labour; the equipment listed line by line, with dish size, LNB type and cable length; the number of viewing points and where they go; the mounting position and method; what the workmanship warranty covers and for how long; and what is explicitly excluded — typically the decoder subscription, and building work such as chasing walls or heritage approvals.
For reference, our own published starting prices are R800 for a basic single-view installation, R1,200 for an Explora setup, R1,500 for Extra View multi-room, and R550 for a repair callout, with equipment additional and complexity assessed on site. Any installer should be equally willing to publish a starting point.
After the installation
Before the technician leaves, you should have: a working picture on every point, the final signal strength and quality figures, a walkthrough of the decoder and remote, an invoice, and a clear statement of the warranty. Take a photo of the dish position and the bracket while everything is fresh — it is a useful baseline if you ever need to show that something has moved.
Then put an annual check in the calendar. On this coast that single habit is the difference between a system that lasts a decade and one that starts generating callouts in its third winter, for the reasons we set out in our article on salt air and coastal corrosion.
Where we stand
We are MultiChoice accredited, we work Simon's Town and the False Bay coast daily, we quote before we work, and every installation carries a workmanship warranty. If you are comparing us against another quote, use the six checks above on both of us — a good installer has nothing to lose from the comparison. Start with DStv installation and setup, or send us the details of your property and we will come back with a written quote.