Communications minister Solly Malatsi has hit back at parliament over the Starlink lobbying controversy, delivering a combative written rebuttal that names for the first time the facilitator of his only meeting with Elon Musk’s SpaceX – and pointedly cutting Tony Leon’s Resolve Communications out of the story.
In a letter to ANC MP Khusela Diko, chair of the portfolio committee on communications & digital technologies, headed “Setting the record straight” and dated Sunday, Malatsi said he has met a SpaceX representative exactly once: an introductory meeting with the company’s Ryan Goodnight in September 2024, attended by his chief of staff.
“The meeting was facilitated directly between my office and Robert Appelbaum (a partner at law firm Webber Wenztel),” Malatsi wrote – a direct rebuttal of the suggestion that Resolve, the public affairs firm chaired by former DA leader Leon, brokered his engagement with the satellite operator. Malatsi is a senior DA MP.
The letter responds to a formal demand from Diko, issued last Wednesday, that Malatsi provide a comprehensive written account – with supporting documentation – of his reported dealings with Resolve and Starlink by Monday, 6 July.
Her intervention followed the explosive News24 interview in which former DA leader John Steenhuisen alleged that Resolve arranged meetings between DA ministers in the government of national unity and the firm’s private clients, including Starlink. Diko said the allegations, though untested, invoked “concerning historical precedents in our country, where private interests sought to direct government policy and executive decisions during the state capture era”.
Many meetings
Provision for equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) in the ICT sector – the mechanism widely read as a route to licensing Starlink in South Africa without it having to sell equity to empowerment shareholders – is contained in both the DA’s 2024 election manifesto and the GNU’s own medium-term development plan, he said, with his ministry’s policy work beginning between July and August 2024.
“As I am sure you would agree, it is impossible to be unduly influenced to do something one is already doing,” he wrote.
Read: Tony Leon rejects ‘state capture’ label in Starlink lobbying row
Malatsi said he has met a wide field of low-Earth orbit satellite operators and their advocates – MzansiSat, Amazon Leo, China Satellite Network Company, Spacesail, Space24 and Starlink among them – and that none of these meetings discussed individual licence applications. “Engagements with stakeholders may broaden my perspective on issues, but they do not dictate my decision-making,” he said.
The minister disclosed that Resolve has approached his office twice since his appointment – neither time about Starlink:
- The first, in November 2024, led to a meeting with Premium Ideas SA, a Sim card packaging and logistics company, about Rica non-compliance in the mass distribution of improperly registered Sim cards.
- The second, in June 2025, concerned Hot 102.7FM’s licence amendment application; a planned meeting was cancelled after his office referred the matter to Icasa.
He has also spoken to Resolve CEO Paul Boughey – another former senior DA figure – twice by telephone, he said, once about the Premium Ideas matter and once about a “mundane” query regarding the gazetted copy of his EEIP policy direction.
Malatsi also noted, pointedly, that the media interview on which Diko’s letter relied “alleges neither that I met with Resolve Communications nor that it facilitated any meeting with Starlink”.
The Ramaphosa card
In a politically loaded closing move, the DA minister invoked President Cyril Ramaphosa’s own engagement with Musk. When Ramaphosa travelled to Washington in May 2025, the president’s spokesman was asked whether Starlink’s licensing would come up and replied: “Certainly, the issue will be discussed.” The subtext is clear: if an introductory ministerial meeting with SpaceX is improper, the president’s own diplomacy would be equally suspect.
The exchange between the two politicians comes amid a licensing process that remains deadlocked. Malatsi’s EEIP policy direction, gazetted in December, has been stymied by Icasa’s view that it cannot recognise equity equivalents without an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act – and the regulator said just last week that satellite operators wanting a network licence cannot currently get one from the front door at all, pointing them instead to acquiring an existing licence.
Diko has said the committee will consider Malatsi’s response in determining “any appropriate next steps”. The ANC and ActionSA have demanded independent investigations into Resolve’s dealings with GNU ministers, while Leon has denied any wrongdoing and signalled the firm may pursue legal action over what it regards as defamatory claims. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
- Subscribe to TechCentral’s daily newsletter
- Get breaking news alerts on WhatsApp
