Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya has contradicted an ANC statement that communications minister Solly Malatsi acted unlawfully when he issued a policy directive last Friday on black economic empowerment in the ICT sector.
Briefing journalists on Monday, Magwenya said President Cyril Ramaphosa did not have an issue with the policy directive. The president earlier this year backed Malatsi’s policy directive to communications regulator Icasa, which was then in draft form.
A political storm has erupted around the final directive’s publication, with the ANC, MK Party and EFF all condemning the move.
On Friday, TechCentral reported that Malatsi had asked Icasa urgently to “align its ownership regulations with the ICT BEE sector code, including recognition of EEIPs” (equity equivalent investment programmes). This change will facilitate a path to licensing for foreign satellite broadband providers, including Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Magwenya said it is important not to “fixate” on Starlink as there are “four or five” other companies that have expressed interest in providing services in the country.
“It’s not only Starlink. What the minister is doing is within the law…,” Magwenya said. “As you know, the law is quite clear with respect to the local ownership element for those seeking to be licensed as telecommunications network service providers. And so, that’s what the minister is doing. The president has been aware of that process,” he said.
Early days
He said if it transpires that Icasa can’t do anything beyond what is written in law, then the “process will be to look at an amendment of the legislation”.
Magwenya said it is still early days for anyone to speculate about what Icasa’s decision will be, and it will have to exercise its judgment independently. As a chapter 9 institution under South Africa’s constitution, Icasa is not required to implement the policy directive – but it must consider it.
Read: ICT BEE fight deepens as MK, EFF target Malatsi
At the weekend, the ANC asserted in a statement that the policy directive “introduces policy directions that exceed the minister’s legislative authority, undermine South Africa’s transformation framework and threaten the integrity of our ICT and postal regulatory environment”.
The directive from Malatsi, who is a senior member of the DA in the cabinet, has seen a further souring of his relationship with his deputy, ANC national executive committee member Mondli Gungubele, who took to X at the weekend to criticise the minister. He said the policy directive constitutes an affront to the country’s “sovereignty as it pertains to both sustainable self-dependence and its security”.
Malatsi’s directive is widely regarded as a pivotal development for Starlink’s prospects in South Africa. SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, has consistently maintained that it does not sell equity in any of its Starlink subsidiaries globally and has indicated it will not depart from this position for the South African market.
Under Icasa’s existing licensing framework, Starlink would have to divest 30% of its local shareholding to black investors in order to operate in the country.
Read: ANC’s attack on Solly Malatsi shows how BEE dogma trumps economic reality
Musk again weighed in on South Africa politics on Friday, posting on his social media platform X: “South Africa now has more anti-white laws than apartheid had anti-black laws. This is deeply wrong: the goal should be no race-based laws!” — © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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