IN SHORT: President Ramaphosa publicly told Elon Musk that Starlink can enter South Africa through equity-equivalence programmes, as he dismissed Musk’s characterisation of BEE rules as racist. However telecommunications operators face a specific 30% Black ownership requirement under the Electronic Communications Act that equity-equivalence does not automatically bypass. The B-BBEE ICT Sector Council has simultaneously launched a formal public review of the 2016 ICT sector code, with comments due May 20.
South Africa’s Starlink licensing standoff has escalated into a public political dispute between President Ramaphosa and Elon Musk, with the President offering equity-equivalence as a compliance pathway while the regulatory reality remains more complicated, and a formal review of the ICT sector’s BEE code now underway that could determine whether satellite internet enters Africa’s most developed digital economy.
Ramaphosa made the comments on April 15 while responding to Musk’s repeated public attacks on South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment framework, which Musk has called racist and which he says is blocking Starlink’s licence.
- Under the Electronic Communications Act, telecommunications operators must be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups. Equity-equivalent investment programmes, which allow multinationals to meet BEE requirements through qualifying investment rather than equity transfer, are permitted in sectors like mining and manufacturing but are not automatically available to telecoms operators without regulatory changes.
- President Ramaphosa pointed to Amazon, Microsoft and Google as companies that have successfully complied with BEE via equity-equivalence, noting that 600 international companies now use the mechanism. But the Presidency’s own spokesperson Vincent Magwenya noted that the telecoms sector’s licensing regulations are more specific, drawing a clear distinction between what works elsewhere and what currently applies to Starlink.
- Communications Minister Solly Malatsi, from the DA, issued a final policy directive in December 2025 asking the regulator ICASA to align ownership rules with the ICT sector code and recognise equity-equivalence as an alternative to direct Black ownership. The ANC, EFF and MK Party have pushed back hard, accusing Malatsi of engineering a soft landing for Musk specifically. Ramaphosa has backed Malatsi but with qualifications.
- The B-BBEE ICT Sector Council launched a formal review of the 2016 ICT sector code on April 8, opening public consultation with comments due May 20. The council has also published an updated equity-equivalent investment programme framework clarifying application requirements, with multinationals required to invest 30% of their South African operations’ value or 4% of annual turnover to qualify.
- Musk has alleged on social media that he was offered the opportunity to bribe his way to a licence using a Black fronting arrangement, which he refused on principle. The Presidency dismissed this claim.
- Beyond Starlink, at least four other satellite internet operators have expressed interest in the South African market, according to Ramaphosa’s spokesperson. South Africa’s rural and township connectivity gap is the underlying commercial opportunity, with 77% of rural Nigerians and similar proportions of unconnected African populations that satellite internet could serve.
The DA’s leader Geordin Hill-Lewis publicly backed Musk’s call for equity-equivalence in telecoms, arguing that vested interests in the existing mobile operator industry are the real resistance. The ANC’s resistance reflects deeper concerns about BEE dilution that extend well beyond Starlink.
The Bigger Picture: The Starlink licensing dispute is a proxy for a bigger question: will South Africa’s BEE framework, designed for a pre-digital economy, adapt fast enough to attract the infrastructure investors the country needs to close its connectivity gap? Satellite internet is not just a commercial product. In South Africa’s context it is a rural education and healthcare delivery system. Every month that Starlink is blocked by regulatory uncertainty is another month that millions of South Africans in underserved communities remain without affordable broadband. The ICT sector code review is the policy lever that matters most. The political theatre around Musk is a distraction from it.
Source: Bloomberg / Business Tech
