Read more
Is Elon Musk strong arming SA into allowing his Starlink internet service.
SA-born billionaire Elon Musk has seemingly ignored local employment equity legislation to try to force through a deal for his Starlink internet service.
Musk has been accused of using his relationship with US President Donald Trump to bypass BEE laws, with reports last week detailing how the SA government was willing to create a workaround for the businessman.
While Ramaphosa said bending local employment equity laws for Starlink was not discussed, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi recently gazetted regulations that allow the company to operate here without adhering to BEEE policies.
ALSO READ: Makhubele shoots down Starlink as ‘frivolous’ while Malatsi champions space for competition
Malatsi defended the regulations, saying that they stemmed from a Competition Commission Data Services Market Inquiry (DSMI) report in 2019 and had been in the works for some time.
“It is the lack of competition in the market that appears to be the greatest impediment to lower prices for consumers,” the report stated.
Malatsi said that since being appointed minister, the department has set a timeline for the policy directive process to be finalised by mid-June.
Musk can’t bend the rules- EFF
Speaking over the weekend, EFF leader Julius Malema said Starlink should not be allowed to work in South Africa without playing by exisiting rules.
“[Government] wants to relax B-BBEE laws for Musk to operate in South Africa. There is no such law in our country.”
ALSO READ: EFF threatens legal action over plans to offer Elon Musk’s Starlink [VIDEO]
The African Transformation Movement also condemned what it called “the ANC-DA coalition’s latest act of betrayal against the people of South Africa”.
The party said Malatsi’s idea was “a shameless sellout to American oligarchs Musk and US President Donald Trump – a move that spits in the face of our nation’s transformation agenda”.
NOW READ: Makhubele shoots down Starlink as ‘frivolous’ while Malatsi champions space for competition
Download our app
