The eventual entry of SpaceX’s Starlink in South Africa has been the subject of much speculation, with the country’s regulatory requirements being the major sticking point. Despite offering free internet access to SA schools and asking the public to motivate for its arrival, the satellite internet service remains fairly absent. But that’s not all Elon Musk’s company has been trying.
There’s only really one hurdle SpaceX isn’t willing to leap over — the 30% ownership requirement for companies entering the country. A submission to South Africa’s Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, seen by Stuff, makes this much apparent. The said document also lobbies for changes that will allow the space internet company to avoid having to hand over its company to local interests.
Summoning Starlink
The document, dated 2 July 2025, seeks the “harmonization” of ICASA’s powers under the Electronic Communications Act with those of the ICT Sector Code. Doing so, argues SpaceX, “will provide clarity regarding the obligations that apply to both emerging market participants and existing operators.”
“This harmonization encompasses the acknowledgment of equity equivalent investment programs, which play a vital role in incentivizing investment in South Africa by international operators, while also recognizing transactions and structures that have shown success under the ICT Sector Code.”
The Starlink owner argues that proposed changes would allow means “other than direct equity ownership of licensees by South Africans” to replace its obligations for entry into the South African market. The company argues that South Africa’s BBEEE Act offers alternatives, including “facilitating community ownership, human resource and skills development, achieving equitable workforce representation, preferential procurement, and investment in black-owned enterprises,” that could be implemented without handing over a large chunk of the American entity.
It’s this solution, brought about by the merging of ICASA’s regulations and the ICT Sector Code, that would be a preferred option. Starlink said in its submission that it is “simply not desirable to create parallel legal regimes when harmonization is both legally required and practically beneficial.”
