South Africa\u2019s government plans to push ahead with a policy directive that provides a workaround to Black-ownership requirements in the telecommunications industry, aiming to encourage Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink and other satellite services to operate in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government asked the country\u2019s telecoms regulator to allow for an equity equivalent program for the industry, according to a directive signed by Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such a program would grant operators like Starlink access to Africa\u2019s largest market without ceding ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government had been negotiating a workaround that would overcome Musk\u2019s opposition to the ownership rules before South African President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s visit to the White House this week, Bloomberg News reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new rules are meant as a concession, as Ramaphosa seeks to mend strained relations with the US and clinch a trade deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa is dealing with an onslaught of criticism by Musk and President Donald Trump, who\u2019ve spread the conspiracy theory that there\u2019s a genocide against White people in South Africa and attacked what they call racist policies in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The equity equivalent plan will form part of the Department of Communication and Digital Technologies\u2019 medium-term plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The alternative to Black economic-empowerment laws, which generally require 30% Black ownership in businesses operating in the country, would allow telecom companies instead to invest in projects such as infrastructure, local businesses, digital inclusion initiatives or research, according to Malatsi\u2019s policy directive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s similar to a deal offered to the automotive industry in 2019. Car manufacturers \u2014 including BMW AG, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. \u2014 established a fund that would bring disenfranchised groups into the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa introduced BEE rules after the end of apartheid, an era in which Black people were subjugated and excluded from the formal economy by the ruling White minority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk, who was born in Pretoria, has persistently criticized South Africa\u2019s race-based laws, calling them \u201copenly racist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starlink\u2019s technology, which relies on a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites, would be a potential game-changer for South African users who\u2019ve historically faced expensive or unreliable internet options. Only 1.7% of rural households have access to the internet, according to a 2023 survey compiled by the local statistics agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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