South Africa’s Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has told Parliament that proposed changes to the country’s telecommunications licensing rules were not influenced by Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. In a letter to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, the minister said the reform was already government policy before any contact with the company, Business Insider Africa reported.
Key facts
- Malatsi rejected claims that Starlink shaped his proposal to recognise Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs) as an alternative to existing licence ownership requirements.
- He said the EEIP proposal appeared in the Democratic Alliance’s 2024 election manifesto and in the Government of National Unity’s Medium Term Development Plan.
- “It is impossible to be unduly influenced to do something one is already doing,” the minister wrote, as quoted by the outlet.
- South Africa’s Electronic Communications Act requires telecommunications network operators to have at least 30% ownership by historically disadvantaged South Africans before they can obtain an operating licence.
- Malatsi said his only meeting with a SpaceX representative took place in September 2024 and was arranged directly by lawyer Robert Appelbaum.
Why it matters
That 30% threshold has kept Starlink out of the continent’s most industrialised economy while the service launched almost everywhere around it. On the publication’s account, the row has outgrown a licensing file and become a test of how far South Africa will adjust empowerment rules for foreign capital — a precedent other governments weighing local ownership against global technology investment are expected to read closely.
Two points are worth separating for anyone tracking availability. Nothing here describes a Starlink service being switched off: South Africa is a market the company has never been licensed to enter. And the blockage is statutory rather than commercial — South Africa’s regulator ICASA has set out its own position separately, and the regulator has said it is waiting on a change in the law before it can act, not on anything SpaceX has or has not filed.
What Parliament is looking at
The letter responded to allegations that a public affairs firm had arranged contact between government ministers and private-sector clients, including SpaceX. Malatsi denied the firm set up meetings between his office and Starlink, and described his engagement with industry as neither exceptional nor secretive: being approached by stakeholders is a normal part of policymaking and does not determine government decisions, he argued.
Among the operators he said he had met was Spacesail, the Chinese constellation that has said it is targeting 10,000 satellites by 2030 — a reminder that a South African licence queue is not a Starlink-only queue. Neither SpaceX nor ICASA had issued a public statement on the lobbying allegations in the reporting available at the time of writing.
The committee is expected to review the explanation before deciding whether further action is needed.
The ownership fight behind the licence
South Africa is Starlink’s most closely watched African market partly because Musk was born in Pretoria. Earlier this year he criticised the country’s ownership rules and claimed Starlink could not operate there because he is not Black; South African authorities rejected that, saying the framework applies equally to all operators and that market access turns on compliance with licensing law rather than race.
Supporters of the reform argue that extending EEIPs to telecommunications would draw investment, add competition and speed up broadband reach, particularly through low-Earth orbit networks able to serve remote communities. Critics counter that loosening direct ownership requirements would weaken a cornerstone of post-apartheid economic policy.
Neither case is settled by this letter, which changes no rule. The EEIP route would still need a formal policy direction and, on the regulator’s reading, a legislative change — so the committee’s review determines political temperature, not market access.
What it costs — and what is not yet priced
The letter sets no launch date and no price for South Africa, and no figure has been published for how large an EEIP investment in telecommunications would have to be. Starlink does not publish residential pricing for markets where it holds no licence, so there is no South African tariff to quote.
In the licensed neighbours — Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique — hardware and monthly residential prices are listed country by country, in local currency, on SpaceX’s own order pages, and have been revised more than once since those markets opened. No figures are reproduced here: the reporting this article rests on carries none, and a number lifted from elsewhere would likely be stale before any South African decision lands. Check the order page for your own market on the day you buy.
Where Starlink is already licensed in Africa
| Market | Status |
|---|---|
| Nigeria | Sales began 2023, its first African market |
| Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana | Licensed |
| DR Congo, Lesotho, Somalia | Most recent additions |
| South Africa | Not licensed; application unresolved pending the ownership rules |
Governments have largely welcomed the service as a way to reach rural and underserved areas where fibre remains commercially unviable, the publication noted. For readers in Zimbabwe and Botswana the practical position is the inverse of South Africa’s: the service is licensed and selling, and the regional hole is the biggest economy on the map.
What to watch next
South Africa’s eventual decision could shape digital investment across the continent and how other multinational satellite operators, including Project Kuiper, structure their African expansion, per that report. Three markers to track: whether the committee accepts the minister’s account, whether a formal policy direction on EEIPs is gazetted, and whether Parliament moves on the Electronic Communications Act itself — the step the regulator says it is waiting for.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is an Equity Equivalent Investment Programme?
According to Business Insider Africa, EEIPs already operate in sectors such as automotive manufacturing and let multinational companies meet empowerment obligations by investing in skills development, supplier programmes, infrastructure and enterprise development instead of transferring equity. Minister Solly Malatsi’s proposal would extend that model to qualifying telecommunications companies.
Which other satellite operators has the minister met?
His letter named Amazon’s Project Kuiper, China Satellite Network Company, Space24 and Spacesail, the outlet reported. Malatsi said those meetings were routine sector consultations covering technology and the regulatory environment rather than individual licence applications.
Has Starlink hit regulatory trouble in other African countries?
Yes. Business Insider Africa reported that Cameroon seized Starlink equipment being used without authorisation before moving towards a formal licensing process, and that Namibia rejected the company’s licence application over regulatory requirements.
Who raised the lobbying allegations with the minister?
Malatsi’s letter answered written questions from Khusela Sangoni, chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, per that report. She wrote after allegations that public affairs firm Resolve Communications had facilitated engagements between government ministers and private-sector clients, including SpaceX. Resolve has denied the allegations.
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