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IOL News
a day ago
- Business
- IOL News
President and minister must be praised for Starlink
If Starlink is required to invest locally through equity programmes, changing lives in the process, why not allow them to do business here, ask the writer. The ongoing saga around Starlink's attempted entry into the South African market has been yet another song and dance by our politicians. It is blatantly obvious that having this kind of satellite technology turned on overnight has the potential to transform our country, which is desperately in need of any economic benefit, but once again, our regulators are pushing their own interests over those of citizens. It's been heartening to see that our President and the Communications Minister are using existing legislation to assist foreign satellite internet providers to become licensed to operate in South Africa through equity equivalent programmes. If Starlink is required to invest locally through equity programmes, changing lives in the process, why not allow them to do business here? Ramaphosa and Malatsi deserve full public support as this decision heads to ICASA. Melanie Barr
IOL News
23-06-2025
- Business
- IOL News
How international pressure fast-tracked policy changes that prioritise foreign profits over local ownership
President Cyril Ramaphosa suggests Starlink as a solution, which raises questions about the underlying motives, says the writer. Image: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto/AFP On May 21, we witnessed an embarrassing scene of the presidential delegation in the Oval Office. Patrick Gaspard, a former American ambassador in South Africa under the Barack Obama administration, explained that Trump had turned the meeting with Ramaphosa into a "shameful spectacle" and "savaged him with some phoney snuff film and brutal rhetoric" (Gaspard, 2025). This was purportedly done to remedy the very high already present tensions between the US and South Africa that have escalated since the Trump administration took office. Interestingly, just 48 hours later, Communications Minister Solly Malatsi gazetted a new direction of policy to ICASA, permitting Starlink and other foreign investors to "harmonise" current ICT sector requirements (Department of Communications & Digital Technologies, 2025). The regulations previously demanded that at least 30% of shares be held by historically disadvantaged individuals. Current ICT Sector Rules Due to the expansive and strategic nature of the telecoms sector – controlling how South Africans communicate, access information, and participate in the digital economy – the previous requirement for foreign telecommunications licensees to sell 30% of their local subsidiaries to historically disadvantaged groups ensured that black South Africans didn't just use these services, but owned and profited from the infrastructure serving their communities (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003). ICASA's Role ICASA is the regulator of South Africa's telecommunications sector, essentially the gatekeeper that licenses all companies wanting to provide internet, phone, or TV services (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act, 2000). Because they enforce the ownership requirements, they're the ones who need to ease these regulations to make room for Starlink and other prospective foreign investors. As the Department of Communications & Digital Technologies noted, this wouldn't just benefit one company but would apply to all ICT companies, including those from China and the Middle East (Department of Communications & Digital Technologies, 2025). Equity Equivalent and Ownership 'Workaround' The 'sidestep' or 'harmonising' commonly referred to speaks to Equity Equivalent programmes – this is when companies are permitted to avoid giving up ownership but instead can contribute through community projects worth the same value as what that 30% ownership would have been. This usually takes the form of skills and training development, job creation, and supporting black-owned suppliers (Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, 2019). In 2019, the South African government piloted this approach through the automotive industry, where BMW, Ford, and Toyota did not have to give up ownership but instead committed to ploughing back through skills development and funding for black-owned suppliers (Automotive Industry Development Centre, 2019). Essentially, companies keep their investments, shareholding, and decision-making power, but offer communities the equivalent value of what they would have given up in ownership. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Aphelele Mtwecu, a proud member of the Activate Change Drivers Network and a2016 Activator. She is a content writer, activist Image: Supplied Contentions of Timelines and Due Processes So, how exactly does a presidential delegation meeting occur on Wednesday and have a new policy gazetted by Friday? The credibility of how this gazette played out is questionable. According to reports, the delegation included three other officials who were familiar with what Starlink would bring to the South African economy, granted this wasn't a spontaneous engagement. However, here is the problem: South Africa, with all its flaws, values and upholds consultative processes. A major economic policy shift such as this one would normally require public hearings or parliamentary reviews to protect the Republic from exactly these kinds of overnight decisions (Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000). In this matter of harmonising BEE laws, regardless of existing contentions, this is an important historical policy that would impact our state of affairs deeply. It is further alarming how these kinds of events occur under the supposed sensitivity of the GNU government, where consensus-building across coalition parties should be central to major decisions. Unless it is the citizens who are blindfolded, and we simply do not know there was a prior agreement between parties to fast-track this change. Pseudo Altruism According to Statistics South Africa's latest general household survey, only 1.7% of rural households had an Internet connection at home in 2023 (Statistics South Africa, 2024). This devastating statistic has become the most compelling reason for the urgency of Starlink's operations in South Africa. As we understand it, Starlink has been piloted in some South African rural communities and has indeed yielded positive results for farmers as well as the education sector. The need is undeniable – rural communities lack the same coverage and access compared to urban areas. This digital divide is real and valid. Currently, technology optimisation is everything, especially in education, and for children to have access to connectivity is critical. But here's my question: out of all telecommunications services globally, can we prove that Starlink is the crème de la crème of satellite coverage? Have other avenues been exhausted before we convinced ourselves we had no choice? And if Starlink had indeed piloted programs in rural areas and seen the benefits, why wouldn't they yield further to South Africa's legislative and broader economic equity by accepting a BEE partner under ICT BEE laws? If rural connectivity was so important to them, why was this condition such a deal breaker? In these cases, material interests and profit margins trump everything else. And that makes me question their philanthropic intent "to save rural communities" entirely. Digital Inclusion* (*Economic Participation Sold Separately) The Department of Communications highlighted a significant issue, emphasising that the policy is not just about Starlink but is intended to address the growing digital divide. However, I do not agree with the methodology. We must ensure that our approach to digital inclusion does not compromise future sustainability. We have identified the need, but here's the broader question: how can you give a society tablets when they cannot even harvest food to sustain themselves and their families? How is this different from any other interventions that have squandered the hopes of our people, only to leave them hanging with false hope and shattered dreams? What's the point of digital inclusion without economic participation? We're essentially saying to rural youth: 'Here's access to the internet, but the profits from connecting you will flow to foreign shareholders.' This is the bread vs. bandwidth dilemma – we're trading long-term ownership for short-term access, creating dependency rather than empowerment. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi gazetted a new direction of policy to ICASA, permitting Starlink and other foreign investors to "harmonise" current ICT sector requirements (Department of Communications & Digital Technologies, 2025). Image: X / IOLGraphics Racial Capitalism in Real Time We are not oblivious to the sequence of events unfolding in the terrain we find ourselves in. The actions of certain global leaders have influenced policies that affect digital inclusion and economic participation. After our ambassador was dismissed, claims emerged about land confiscation in South Africa, which were used to support allegations of land grabs and genocide. He curtain-calls this performance to the globe, summons 'Cupcake' to the Oval Office, and at the brink of our president making pleas for him to stop, the Trump-Musk axis asks: 'What will you give us in return?' Our president suggests Starlink as a solution, which raises questions about the underlying motives. But these dynamics of power and racial manipulation speak deeply to what Cedric Robinson identified as racial capitalism, where racism isn't incidental to capitalism, but fundamental to its operation (Robinson, 2000). As Robin D.G. Kelley reflects on Robinson's work, this system not only exploits black labour but also uses black societies as laboratories for testing how far capital can push without resistance (Kelley, 2017). Du Bois saw this clearly: the colour line isn't just about prejudice, it's about who gets to own, who gets to profit, and who gets relegated to being grateful for scraps (Du Bois, 1903). We need to critically examine these issues, as seen in 2019 when BMW, Ford, and Toyota used 'equity equivalent' programs to avoid ownership responsibilities. But where's the evidence that this worked? Are there measurably more black-owned automotive companies today? Now they want us to accept the same promise in telecoms, dressed up as digital inclusion.
TimesLIVE
18-06-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Dept. of Communications and Digital Technologies, ICASA appear in parliament
The portfolio committee on Communications and Digital Technologies will be briefed by the Department and ICASA on the 2024/25 3rd and 4th Quarter Performance and Financial Report. The SABC and Sentech will also brief on any amendments to the already considered 2025 - 2030 Strategic Plans and 2025 Annual Performance Plans.
Eyewitness News
15-06-2025
- Science
- Eyewitness News
Starlink satellite could pose disruptions to SA's radio telescopes
CAPE TOWN - Elon Musk's Starlink satellite, which will be launched in low orbit around Earth, could pose disruptions to South Africa's radio telescopes. The SpaceX satellite plans to bring faster connectivity to remote parts of South Africa. However, South African astronomers are raising concerns about the disruptions the satellite could cause to our highly sensitive telescopic equipment. READ: Starlink waits for go-ahead in South Africa, but ICASA hasn't received application Research associate at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, Dr Lerothodi Leeuw, said the space where the telescopes were located had strict protections to ensure no interferences occur. "The protection we have in place at the moment they don't apply internationally, such as in space, we don't control those low-orbiting satellites. So, the concern that was put forward is what if these low Earth orbiting satellites contribute and Starlink is not the only one, there's a whole bunch of them." Leeuw added that satellites crossing the telescope's path cause interruptions to their research. "So, just to give it a little bit of context. We know that our radio telescopes will get interference from artificial radio transmitters and from the ground, we take that so seriously that the area where the square kilometre radius is going to be in South Africa is a protected area against such interferences."
eNCA
01-06-2025
- Business
- eNCA
Service providers urged to follow proper channels
JOHANNESBURG - ICASA chairperson, Mothibi Ramusi, has urged telecommunication service providers to use the correct channels when applying for certification. This comes on the back of reports that some South Africans are illegally using Starlink services. The authority has also sent out its teams to conduct physical verifications in the affected areas. Starlink, an American service provider is not authorised or licensed to operate in the country. The satellite internet provider is owned by South African born billionaire, Elon Musk. The tech mogul wants to bring Starlink to SA but faces a major hurdle because of ownership. By law, every national network infrastructure and communications service provider must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups.
