Communications minister Solly Malatsi told TechCentral in an exclusive interview at the weekend that he is a matter of weeks away from finalising a policy direction on equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) for the ICT sector.
Once finalised – and if adopted by communications regulator Icasa – the new move could see foreign ICT firms get the option to use EEIPs instead of selling equity – at least 30%, according to the Electronic Communications Act – to meet broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) requirements.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has said repeatedly that the equity requirement is stalling its application for a licence in South Africa to operate Starlink, holding up the launch of the satellite-based broadband internet service offering.
“I think in the next few weeks we’ll be able to communicate the outcome of the review of all those submissions and then finalise the policy direction for final decision-making by Icasa,” said Malatsi.
Malatsi in May issued a draft policy direction on EEIPs in the ICT sector for industry stakeholders to consider. Malatsi – a Democratic Alliance MP – is the first non-ANC minister of communications since South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994.
The move caused ructions among Malatsi’s colleagues in the government of national unity, with ANC MP Khusela Diko – who chairs parliament’s portfolio on communications & digital technologies – accusing the minister of using the policy direction to create a shortcut for Starlink to obtain an operating licence in South Africa.
‘Very close’
Musk has been a vocal critic of South Africa’s BEE laws, even going as far as saying that the reason the service is yet to be licensed in South Africa is because he is “not black”. SpaceX, meanwhile, has on multiple occasions asserted that it is willing to invest in South Africa and comply with all its laws, provided regulations are amended so that EEIPs are allowed.
Malatsi denied Diko’s allegations and gave stakeholders wishing to respond to the draft document 30 days to make their submissions to the department of communications and digital technologies for review. According to the minister, more than 19 000 submissions were received in total.
Read: Starlink says it wants to go big in South Africa
“We are very close to finalising all those responses. Remember, we got 19 000 submissions, and it is very important that we go through them all individually – even though it was clear as the team was working through the material that some were just repeat submissions. But the assessment must still be thorough,” he said. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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