Your best option to legally watch South African products is to get a subscription to Showmax or Netflix.
| Showmax | Unfortunately Showmax will only be available outside of South Africa until 1 December 2023. We will keep you updated if there are any alternatives |
| Netflix | You might find some South African content |
VPNs and DStv
Although it is possible to watch DStv in Germany, it is not recommended.
Please read the warning below. If you have to use a VPN to watch something you can be pretty sure it was not licenced in Germany.
Watching sports
2024 Rugby Fixtures The 2024 Springboks rugby fixtures courtesy of Rugby365.com Cricket T20 World cup The T20 Cricket World Cup can be streamed via the Cricket.de Website Watching your favourite sports on Television can be a challenge in Germany. Using a VPN to watch the games on DSTV is very tempting, but we strongly advise against it. Germany has stringent copyright laws.Do not violate copyright laws
Television Licenses
Television Licence (der Rundfunkbeitrag/GEZ-Gebühr) The first thing you are likely to get in your new mailbox after registering at the Bürgeramt is a reminder to pay your TV & radio broadcasting fees. The 2024 fees are €18.36 per month and can be paid quarterly (€55.08) or €220.32 per yearThe fee is mandatory. Every household in Germany has to pay the fee even if you do not own
Warning!!
VPN’s are legal in Germany, but infringing on copyright and accessing content that should not be available can result in legal action. Copyrights are governed by GEMA – “The Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA; English: Society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights) is a government-mandated collecting society and performance rights organization based in Germany.”
This means if you want to watch a South African program but it has no license to air in Germany, and GEMA does not earn their fees, it would be considered illegal.
Info on the web
- Streamen – Article in German
- Streaming was ist illegal. Information about geoblocking
- You can read more about streaming, and how to identify illegal sites, on the European Consumer Centre Germany – you can download their English Pdf here Safer-Streaming-EN
- Article from Deutsche Welle – Warning on illegal downloads
- Information from the European Consumer Centre can be found here
- IPTV what is legal and what not – Article in German but can be easily translated
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