On The Deals Shaping Our Economy
South Africa’s Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has officially directed the regulator, Icasa, to amend rules that have long blocked Elon Musk's Starlink from operating in the country.
The Change: The directive instructs Icasa to accept "Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes" (EEIPs).
How it Works: Instead of meeting the strict requirement to sell 30% equity to historically disadvantaged groups (HDG), multinationals could instead invest in skills development, infrastructure, and digital inclusion.
Why it Matters: This policy shift is explicitly designed to accelerate broadband access and lower costs by allowing international giants like SpaceX to enter the market without diluting ownership.
"The directive is given having regard to the need to promote numerous policy goals... taking account of the contribution to investment and competition that can be made by international entities."
The Backlash: ANC Cries Foul
The African National Congress (ANC) has fiercely rejected the move, accusing the Democratic Alliance (DA) minister of "serious overreach" and undermining transformation.
The Friction: The ANC argues that replacing ownership with "equivalents" threatens the country's transformation framework and bypasses parliamentary oversight.
The Accusation: They claim this mirrors a trend where DA ministers "seek to bypass Parliament" to reform laws through executive directives.
"South Africa has invested decades building an ICT sector that promotes inclusion... [this] risks reversing hard-won gains and entrenching foreign dominance."
The "Culture War": Musk Weighs In
Elon Musk escalated the tension on X (formerly Twitter), framing the regulatory hurdles as evidence of systemic bias against white South Africans.
The Claim: Musk tweeted that South Africa now has "more anti-White laws than Apartheid had anti-Black laws," sharing a graph from the Free Market Foundation depicting a rise in race-based legislation.
The Sentiment: He called the current legal landscape "deeply wrong" and argued for "no race-based laws".
Reality Check: The Inequality Gap
While Musk criticizes the volume of race-based laws, fresh data highlights the structural economic disparities the laws were designed to address.
Metric | Statistic |
|---|---|
Wealth Concentration | The richest 10% hold 86% of South Africa's wealth, while the bottom 50% hold virtually nothing. |
Land Ownership | The 2017 land audit reveals that white South Africans own 72% of farms and agricultural holdings, compared to just 4% held by black South Africans. |
Poverty | Despite progress, 23 million citizens still live below the poverty line, with rural and female-headed households most affected. |
The Bottom Line
The Starlink debate is no longer just about faster internet. It has become a proxy war over the Government of National Unity's stability, the validity of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), and the persistent legacy of economic inequality.
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