Effort to get Starlink in South Africa collides with tension over Musk

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been vocal about his desire to see his country’s wealthiest son, Elon Musk, invest some of his billions at home.

But his overtures have been stymied by Musk’s criticism of the South African government as racist. Musk has argued that a law requiring foreign companies to sell ownership stakes to Black people — or others who faced discrimination during apartheid — is discriminatory and prevents his satellite internet provider, Starlink, from operating there.

Now, a South African official is paving the way for Starlink, and other similar providers, to operate in the country through an alternative to the requirement of Black ownership.

The official, Solly Malatsi, who oversees the country’s telecommunications, has said that he is finalising a directive that would allow satellite internet companies to obtain licenses by investing in disadvantaged communities, rather than by selling equity in their companies.

The directive would still need to go through a public consultation process with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, which regulates the telecommunications industry, before going into effect.

Malatsi’s political opponents say that providing an alternative to Black ownership would undermine efforts to undo racial disparities cemented during apartheid. They accuse him of trying to appease Musk, who was born and raised in South Africa but has rarely returned since moving away as a teenager.

“The minister is seeking to cut corners and erode hard-won transformation goals,” Khusela Sangoni Diko, the chair of the parliamentary committee overseeing telecommunications, said in a statement this week.

She added that several other satellite operators are also interested in investing in South Africa and are willing to comply with the existing rules, so “there is no need for overreliance and obsession with a single satellite provider.”

But Malatsi has insisted that he is making the change to spur economic growth by attracting a variety of companies, not just Starlink.

To attract foreign companies, most other industries in South Africa already allow alternatives to Black ownership, known as “equity equivalents.”

The equivalents “have been instrumental in attracting much-needed investments in areas such as the automobile sector,” Malatsi said. He added that they empowered previously disadvantaged people by “spreading opportunity and driving development.”

The rules about Black ownership were created after the end of apartheid 30 years ago in an effort to economically uplift Black South Africans, who were largely prohibited from owning major companies under the white-minority government.

Circumscribing the debate over Starlink is South Africa’s tense political climate. Malatsi belongs to the Democratic Alliance, the country’s second-largest political party, which is in a multiparty coalition led by the largest party, the African National Congress. The two parties are at odds over many issues.

In a letter submitted to South Africa’s communications authority in November, Starlink argued that it could contribute to goals the government had set out to provide affordable, high-speed internet to underserved areas to help grow the economy, create jobs and improve social services.

Yet Musk’s critiques of South Africa have created mistrust among some government officials who have raised concerns about giving Musk too much control over the country’s internet connectivity.

The government has accused Musk, who owns the social media platform X, of peddling misinformation, pointing to his social media posts that promote a conspiracy theory that white South Africans are facing genocide, and his characterisation of a land-reform law as racist.

Those comments have fed into a broader attack by President Donald Trump and his administration against South Africa. Trump signed an executive order in February halting most American aid to South Africa and offering refugee status to some white South Africans, citing the land law as discriminatory.

Ramaphosa met Musk in New York last year, and the two discussed the possibility of Musk’s car company, Tesla, and his space exploration venture, SpaceX, investing in South Africa along with Starlink getting approved, said Vincent Magwenya, the spokesperson for the president.

But those considerations are on hold because of “recent experience with Elon’s untruthful posts on X and the disinformation campaign against South Africa,” Magwenya said.

The president may revisit the discussions, he added, “when things settle down and we are able to advance a better state of the relationship with the Trump administration.”

Starlink is licensed in 20 African countries or territories. The service has sold out quickly in some places because it often offers faster internet speeds at lower prices than what traditional broadband companies can provide.

But Starlink’s efforts on the continent have sometimes been bumpy.

Traditional telecommunications companies, including some with state ownership, have raised concerns that Starlink is given preferential treatment or that it flouts the rules.

“We welcome competition,” said Khanya Mase-Mnyantsi of the Association of Comms and Technology, which lobbies for South Africa’s telecommunications industry. “But everyone must enter through the same regulatory door and be subject to the same laws.”