Elon Musk’s Starlink has gained another opening to enter South Africa, but the satellite internet company still faces a 30% ownership requirement at the centre of a wider argument over investment, black economic empowerment and technological sovereignty.
Deputy Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele said on September 28 that Pretoria was ready to welcome Starlink if it works within the country’s equity framework. At Bloomberg’s 2026 Africa Business Media Innovators gathering in Hermanus, he argued that multinationals should contribute to local capability.
“To me, sovereignty of the developing countries is when the multinationals sit down in that country, the invested country, and agree” on technology and capability transfer, Gungubele said.
The immediate question is no longer whether South Africa wants Starlink. Pretoria clearly does. The harder issue is how Starlink can enter without weakening ownership rules.
The 30% Hurdle
South Africa’s Electronic Communications Act requires individual telecom licence holders to meet a minimum 30% ownership requirement for historically disadvantaged groups. ICASA reaffirmed in May 2026 that the requirement remains part of its licensing framework.
That rule is the principal obstacle for Starlink. SpaceX has argued for an alternative because it does not want to transfer a local equity stake. Elon Musk has previously criticised the rule publicly, including saying that Starlink was blocked because he was “not black”.
The government has tried to find a middle route through Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes, or EEIPs. Under the proposed approach, a foreign company could contribute through infrastructure, skills development, local suppliers, research, digital inclusion and other investments instead of meeting the requirement solely through direct equity.
For Starlink, that could convert the ownership question into a measurable investment programme. For Pretoria, it could preserve empowerment goals while attracting a provider that can extend broadband beyond conventional networks.
The Legal Problem
The obstacle is partly institutional. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has supported EEIPs in telecommunications licensing, but ICASA says the existing Electronic Communications Act does not give it enough authority to treat EEIPs as a full substitute for the ownership requirement.
ICASA said in May that full alignment with the ICT Sector Code, including EEIPs, would require an amendment to the law. Parliament’s communications committee backed that position and said the regulator should uphold the existing legal framework.
Pretoria can seek legislative change, negotiate a structure within current law, or continue discussions while the dispute runs its course. Gungubele’s latest comments suggest the door remains open, but they do not amount to a licence.
Starlink still needs relevant South African authorisations to provide commercial communications services. As of June, the communications minister said ICASA had not received Starlink applications for spectrum, electronic communications network or electronic communications service licences.
Why Starlink Matters
South Africa is one of Africa’s more connected economies. DataReportal estimated 51.7mn internet users at the end of 2025, equal to 79.6% penetration. Yet about 13.3mn people remained offline.
The national average hides a sharper rural divide. Government data shows that fixed internet access is far lower in rural households than in metropolitan areas. This is where low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband can provide a different solution.
Starlink does not need fibre to every settlement before providing service. Its satellites can connect terminals in remote communities, farms, schools, clinics and businesses. The service can therefore complement fibre and mobile networks rather than replace them.
Rural fibre deployment can be expensive where customers are widely dispersed. Satellite connectivity can provide backhaul for mobile sites, institutional access and connections for communities that are commercially unattractive for traditional expansion.
The Wider African Opportunity
South Africa could also become a regional operating base. Starlink was live in 26 African markets by June 2026, according to Space in Africa, with about 300,000 customers across the continent reported by December 2025.
Its growth illustrates demand for satellite broadband, but also the limits of one technology. Starlink is not a substitute for fibre, mobile towers, electricity or affordable devices. Its strongest role is likely to be where terrestrial infrastructure is weak or costly.
A South African entry could deepen local engineering and supplier participation if the EEIP model is designed carefully. Starlink could source construction, security, maintenance, energy and logistics services locally. Training programmes could build expertise in satellite communications and network management.
The Investment Question
Bloomberg reported in June 2025 that Starlink was considering about R2bn, or roughly $113mn at the time, in South African investment as part of a possible workaround. The proposal included local infrastructure and services.
If a similar commitment becomes part of an EEIP agreement, the debate could move from ownership percentages to measurable economic outcomes. The critical variables would be investment value, local jobs, skills transfer, supplier participation, rural coverage and affordability.
For consumers, competition could pressure broadband providers on service and pricing. Schools and clinics could use satellite links for telemedicine, remote learning and digital administration. Businesses could reduce the cost of operating in isolated areas.
What Musk and Pretoria must Resolve
For Musk, South Africa offers a sizable market and a regional base, but it requires accommodation with a different regulatory system.
For Pretoria, the challenge is to avoid an arrangement that appears to grant one company special treatment. Any EEIP framework would need transparent criteria that other foreign technology companies can meet.
The next stage is therefore about legal architecture. If South Africa can establish a clear route that preserves transformation goals while allowing infrastructure investment and skills transfer to count, Starlink could become a case study in how Africa attracts frontier technology while retaining local economic participation.
The opening is real, but the licence remains unsecured. South Africa has signalled that it wants Starlink’s connectivity. Starlink wants access without a conventional 30% ownership transfer. The question is whether both sides can turn that gap into a transparent, legally durable investment model that benefits South African users and builds capabilities that remain after the satellites are overhead.
