South Africa’s licensing framework for low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites will follow democratic due process, says president Cyril Ramaphosa.
This comes amid widespread debate that the recently-gazetted draft policy directive leans in favour of a licensing model that would benefit one specific LEO provider, namely Starlink.
Ramaphosa was speaking yesterday on the sidelines of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa in Cape Town.
Asked about Starlink and whether he supports it coming to SA, Ramphosa said: “Starlink, as you know, is a subsidiary of SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company. Many people believe that we went to Washington to discuss Starlink; that is not so.
“The issue of Starlink never even came up in the discussions that we had in the White House with US president Donald Trump, notwithstanding the fact that Elon Musk was there as part of the delegation. It wasn’t discussed.
“The process of having low-orbit satellites providing WiFi and internet connectivity is known in South Africa; we’ve been through that. There are quite a number of other companies – Chinese, European and Russian companies and local companies – who are interested in getting into that space. People tend to focus on one company only and yet we’ve got a plethora of companies that would want to get into this space.
“The environment to enhance or enable investment to happen in that space is precisely what needs to be properly crafted and properly permitted to enable that to happen.”
According to Ramaphosa, the process that communications minister Solly Malatsi has “unleashed” is a process that is going to illicit a lot of feedback from the public and various key stakeholders, including current role-players in the sector.
Stakeholders have 30 days to comment on the draft policy direction.
“That will exhibit the true democratic process in our country that when something new, something that is topical and even desirable has to be initiated, it has to be supported by a lot of discussion, role-players and ordinary citizens,” he said.
“This is what is good about our country. Nobody ever stands on any platform and says: ‘I’m going to do this.’ This is not an emperor’s land or a dictator’s land where you do whatever you like. Our democracy dictates that it must be by the will of the people, their involvement and their wishes.”
The president’s comments came on the same day as Malatsi’s appearance before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies.
Last week, Malatsi gazetted a draft policy directive that potentially clears the way for licensing of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service.
Malatsi has said his proposal seeks to provide the “much-needed” policy certainty to attract investment in the ICT sector, and specifically with regards to licensing for broadcasters, internet service providers, mobile networks, or fixed and mobile networks.
The minister has proposed the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa review the role of equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) in the ICT sector as a mechanism to accelerate broadband access.
The regulations do not currently allow companies that can contribute to SA’s transformation goals in ways other than traditional ownership, to qualify for individual licences under the Electronic Communications Act. Licence approval requires that a company must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups.
Yesterday, he endured a grilling from members of Parliament (MPs), who criticised the ministerial directive, saying it flouts SA’s transformation laws and sends a skewed message about fair play to incumbent players.
MPs further questioned the introduction of EEIPs as opposed to ownership in the ICT sector, which they deemed least transformed among the country’s sectors. They also questioned whether the minister wasn’t overstating his role in the process and promised to challenge it in the courts, if it isn’t reversed or withdrawn. They stressed that SA’s transformation agenda must not be derailed, to improve the lives of the most vulnerable and create economic opportunities.
As it stands, they said the directive seeks to favour business rather than looking at the interests of South Africans, said ANC MP Tshehofatso Meagan Chauke. “What is clearly displayed here is an opportunity for international players to come through the back door without consequences and therefore removing or creating a greater vacuum from those who are in the local market from actually competing.”
Malatsi, however, stressed that the proposal is not meant to “deviate” from broad-based black economic empowerment and that transformation is a non-negotiable for the country to achieve its aspirations.
“We are not attempting to open a special dispensation for Starlink, or any other company or individual. We are saying that the regulations in our sector must consistently make provision for the two choices that exist in any other sector and other aspects of the ICT sector when it comes to the role of multinationals, whether small or big, and that the provisions around the option of a 30% local ownership, or the pathway of equity equivalent must be consistently available,” said the minister.
Starlink is an LEO satellite internet constellation operated by Musk’s SpaceX, providing satellite internet access coverage to over 60 countries.
Although it is available in several neighbouring African nations, including Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia, it remains unavailable in South Africa.
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