Minister accused of twisting laws for Starlink in South Africa

The ANC’s Khusela Diko has accused Minister Solly Malatsi of attempting to change laws for the sake of getting Starlink licensed in South Africa.Malatsi is looking for an alternative to South Africa’s equity ownership regulations for Starlink that would instead see it invest in local companies.Diko says that there are many other “satellite providers” looking to launch locally and willing to play by the rules.

The ANC’s Khusela Diko, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, has accused the Minister of Communications and Digital Technology, the DA’s Solly Malatsi, of attempting to erode South Africa’s laws on ownership regulations in an attempt to fast-track the local launch of Starlink.Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet provider, is still waiting for licensing approval from the communications regulator ICASA before it can launch in South Africa. The most recent information we know about the licensing process is that talks are ongoing, but that SpaceX ditched out of a presentation it was supposed to give to ICASA in February at the last minute.



SpaceX owner Elon Musk said on X that South Africa doesn’t want to license Starlink because “I’m not black”, which is an oversimplification and dogwhistle. Instead, the licensing impasse is due to the fact that South African regulations for a telecom company looking to launch locally requires it to have a certain amount of ownership representation from previously disadvantaged ethnic groups.While SpaceX could simply hire a black South African executive for local operations of Starlink, it says that such a thing would be difficult seeing that it is an internationally operating company.

Minister clears the way for Starlink in South AfricaSeeking an alternative, Minister Malatsi is looking to adjust regulations to allow Starlink to make investments in South African companies owned by “previously disadvantaged ethnic groups” as a form of Equity Equivalence in the hopes of clearing the impasse.However, chairperson Diko believes that these “proposed directives and regulations are an attempt to undermine empowerment legislation by stealth and, should this be found to be the case, they will be fiercely opposed,” she said, per Reuters.She added that Malatsi’s plan was seeking to “erode hard-won transformation goals” by looking for a way around the regulation.

Diko’s comments come amid rising tensions between the ANC and DA, which took flame as members of the country’s grand GNU coalition said they would fight an incoming ANC-backed VAT hike in the courts, including the DA.Diko then pointed to the recent successful partnership between MTN and low-Earth orbit satellite group Lynk Global and the launch of MTN’ satellite-to-phone voice call as evidence that international telecoms can come to South Africa and find meaningful business opportunities while also being in full compliance with local regulations. “These initiatives underscore the importance of fast-tracking South Africa’s satellite programme, and that there is no need for overreliance and obsession with a single satellite provider,” she said.

“Several other satellite providers have indicated keen interest in entering the South African market and in compliance with our laws.”Minister Malatsi said he was not available to comment.The post Minister accused of twisting laws for Starlink in South Africa appeared first on Hypertext.

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