Starlink not the reason for bid to relax B-BBEE laws: Malatsi

May 27, 2025 60

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, has defended the controversial gazzetting of a draft policy that proposes easing B-BBEE licensing requirements in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

Malatsi says there’s no conspiracy or underhanded effort to force Starlink into South Africa.

On Friday, the Minister sparked controversy after announcing that the draft policy has been released for public comment, with some angry South Africans urging government not to succumb to pressure from the United States.

The announcement of the gazette came on the back of President Cyril Rmaaphosa’s visit to the White House in a bid to quell the growing tensions between Washington and Pretoria.

Minister Malatsi says consultations on the proposed amendments, which could pave the way for many companies, including Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in South Africa, began last year.

Currently, Starlink cannot launch operations in the country due to a requirement mandating that any such company must be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups.

Addressing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications, Malatsi emphasised that the policy is not intended to favour any specific individual or company.

He adds that the gazzetting happened to coincide with SA’s meeting with the US.

“We are not attempting to open a special dispensation for Starlink or any other company or an individual,” he explains.

Malatsi also urged the public to consider the steps that preceded the President’s meeting in Washington.

“We did say in many public engagements that we had, that the intention in terms of our own timelines would be to aim towards the finalisation of the policy direction towards mid 2025. We are now as close to mid 2025 as humanly possible. We would not have predicted that there would be a visit to Washington last week.”

For his part, President Cyril Ramaphosa denied discussing Starlink during their meeting in the White House.

“Many people believe that we went to Washington to discuss Starlink, that is not so. The issue of Starlink never came up in the discussions that we had in the White House, notwithstanding that Elon Musk was there as part of the delegation. The process of having low orbit satellites providing Wi-Fi and internet connectivity is known in South Africa, we’ve been through that.”

Ramaphosa says there are many companies from other countries such as China and Russia who are looking to tap into the space.

International Relations expert, Sipho Mantula, has accused Musk of trying to recolonise the continent through Starlink.

He’s urged the government to be firm on his likes by illustrating that no one is above the country’s sovereignty.

“We cannot prioritise and give preference to European Countries in our own systems, hence it is difficult for African countries to stand on their own,” says the scholar.

Civic movement, Forum for South Africa (FOSA), has called on the Communications Minister to withdraw the proposal to ease B-BBEE laws.

FOSA’s leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, says South Africa must not fall for the trap.

“Elon lied about the state of Afrikaner farmers in South Africa, so why would the very same person who hates black government in turn come with a solution that will probably be used by blacks?”

“As much as South Africa is open for trade, we must be careful of characters like Elon, because his intentions are not known. Additionally, we are not going to allow our country citizen’s profile to be stored in the Elon database,” adds Mashilompane.