Latest news with #Broad-BasedBlackEconomicEmpowerment
IOL News
2 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Starlink under scrutiny: Minister Malatsi backs ICASA's probe into unauthorised services
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi. Image: X / IOLGraphics Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi has thrown his weight behind the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to investigate Starlink, a satellite internet service operated by SpaceX, for allegedly operating in the country without authorisation. This development comes after the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) alleged that Starlink was offering its services in South Africa without a licence. ICASA confirmed that the organisation had launched an investigation into the alleged unlawful use and provision of Starlink services in South Africa. ICASA spokesperson, Milly Matlou, said: 'ICASA has launched an investigation into the alleged unlawful use and provision of Starlink services in SA. We have also engaged SpaceX for further clarity and have currently deployed inspection teams on the ground to investigate the matter further.' If found guilty, the company could face enforcement actions, including fines or even a ban on its operations in the country. 'Should the investigation yield any breach with regulatory and legislative frameworks, the authority will explore the applicable enforcement actions within its disposal, which may include, among others, lodging a formal complaint with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),' Matlou said. The MKP alleged that Starlink was operating in South Africa without authorisation, using a shadow entity called "ICASAsePUSH" to masquerade its operations. The party claimed that this operation constitutes a 'blatant' violation of South African telecommunications law and represents a direct affront to the country's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) framework. The party launched its allegations during the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies meeting in Parliament on Tuesday. 'During that session, the MK Party directly challenged the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies regarding his awareness of this operation. His professed ignorance was not only unacceptable but deeply troubling,' party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said. Malatsi has expressed his full support for ICASA's investigation, stating that it is the regulator's responsibility to manage both licence applications and investigations. 'The minister was made aware of the allegations when they were raised in the portfolio committee on Tuesday. It is now ICASA's responsibility to investigate these allegations, and the minister fully supports this investigation,' Malatsi's spokesperson, Kwena Moloto, said. This will be the second time the authority investigates Starlink's dealings. In 2023, ICASA issued a notice, warning that it was illegal for anyone or company to use Starlink, as it doesn't hold a licence to operate in the country. Meanwhile, during the session on Tuesday, Malatsi defended his recently gazetted proposed ICT policy adjustments, saying that it was intended to attract investment into the sector. He said it was not a way to allow Elon Musk to operate in South Africa. 'We are not attempting to open a new dispensation for Starlink or any other company or individual,' he told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communication. 'We are saying that the regulations in our sector must consistently make provisions for the two choices that exist in any other sector,' Malatsi said after his department on Friday gazetted a proposed policy direction to the ICASA. Cape Argus
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Malatsi: Communications sector's proposed policy changes already provided for in law
CAPE TOWN - Minister of Communications Solly Malatsi has once again moved to defend proposed policy changes in the sector, saying he's not attempting to do anything not already provided for in law. Many believe the regulations are being designed to benefit foreign satellite company Starlink, the company of tech mogul Elon Musk. On Thursday, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a former communications minister, said no discussions were had with Musk during government's visit to Washington last week. Malatsi has been at odds with political parties in Parliament this week - including the African National Congress (ANC), over regulations that would forego Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements for communication operators in favour of equity equivalents. READ: Malatsi defends policy directive to ease company transformation targets and BEE requirements Responding to member's statements in the National Assembly on Thursday, Malatsi again sought to explain the move, telling the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party that he was working within the prescripts of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act, passed during the administration of their leader, Jacob Zuma, in 2014. 'This is not some invention by a villager from Limpopo called Malatsi. It's there in the rules.' Answering questions at a post-Cabinet briefing earlier in the day, Ntshavheni also defended her actions as a former communications minister. 'We've never considered Starlink. I've never said that. I said South Africa considered developing or introducing satellite communication in the country.' Malatsi said the new regulations will create a more competitive environment for multiple operators.
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
SA's transformation laws can't be changed because other parties disagree
Babalo Ndenze 29 May 2025 | 13:36 FILE: Deputy President Paul Mashatile addressed the National Council of Provinces in Parliament, Cape Town. Picture: @PresidencyZA/X CAPE TOWN - Deputy President Paul Mashatile said that the country's transformation laws must be implemented and can't be changed because some parties said that changes to the laws that were passed by both houses of Parliament had to go through the same process. On Thursday afternoon, Mashatile responded to questions in the National Council of Provinces on a range of issues, including transformation and threats to social cohesion. Mashatile was asked whether he had considered implementing measures to ensure that the emerging attacks on the country's transformation agenda would not lead to further regression of social cohesion. Some of the transformation laws in question include Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) and other redress policies like the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, which are being opposed by the Democratic Alliance (DA). But Mashatile said that the laws weren't about to change. "There are those who seek to undermine transformative pieces of legislation that have been passed, particularly by the previous administration. But the government is quite resolute that those laws that were passed by the previous administration must be implemented." He said that if any party wanted to make changes to the existing laws, they must go to the Cabinet before going back to Parliament.
IOL News
4 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Maimane demands clarity from Ramaphosa on Starlink's economic impact
Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane says President Cyril Ramaphosa avoided the substance of the question entirely and offered a general commentary on whether the exemption or relaxation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment regulations, which would allow Starlink to operate in South Africa, would apply equally to South African-owned companies. Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane wants National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza to instruct President Cyril Ramaphosa to submit a written reply to the question he passed about Starlink and relaxation of black economic empowerment in ICT sector codes. This comes after Ramaphosa skirted around Maimane's question when he was responding during a question and answer session on Tuesday. Maimane asked whether the exemption or relaxation of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment regulations, which would allow Starlink to operate in South Africa, would apply equally to South African-owned companies. When Maimane raised his concern that Ramaphosa did not answer the substance of his question, Deputy Speaker Annelie Lotriet stated that it was his prerogative to answer as he saw fit. 'You can write to the president if you have further clarity,' Lotriet said. EFF leader Julius Malema told Lotriet that she could not say the president has a right and a prerogative to answer the way he liked. 'You can't answer for the president. The president must decide whether he has answered or he thinks he can do much better,' he said. However, Malema and Lotriet got into an argument over the exact parliamentary rule on the matter of prerogative of the president and the response to the satisfaction of a member. This resulted in Malema's removal from the virtual platform. On Wednesday, Maimane said Ramaphosa avoided the substance of the question entirely, and instead offered a general commentary on redress that failed to address the core issue of equal treatment and economic fairness for South African businesses. 'We are of the view this constitutes a direct contravention of the Executive's constitutional responsibility to account to Parliament.' Maimane also said if an MP can be ruled out of order for asking questions that stray from the original topic, then the president, too, must be held to the same standard. 'A response must relate to the question posed. Otherwise, accountability is reduced to a performance, and not a meaningful democratic exercise.' He said the request to Didiza was that she should instruct Ramaphosa to submit a written reply to his question within two days. Maimane also said his request was aimed to 'uphold the principle of executive accountability and ensure that the president does not set a dangerous precedent of evasive non-answers in future sittings'. He added that South Africans deserved clarity on whether government policy was being applied fairly and consistently, or whether multinational corporations are being favoured over local businesses. Meanwhile, when asked at the symposium in Cape Town on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said the issue of Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX owned by billionaire Elon Musk, never even came up in the discussions with US President Donald Trump last week despite being there as part of the US delegation. He said the process of having low-orbit satellites providing Wi-Fi and internet connectivity is known in South Africa. 'We have been through that, and there are quite a number of other companies, Chinese companies, European companies, Russian companies, and many others, 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. So the environment to enhance or enable investment to happen in that space is precisely what needs to be properly crafted, properly enacted to enable that to happen.' Ramaphosa said Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi, who has proposed policy directives on relaxing the black economic empowerment in the ICT sector, has unleashed a process that was going to elicit a lot of comment from the public, from various key stakeholders, including current role-players in the sector. 'That in itself is going to exhibit the true democratic process in our country, that when something new, something that is topical or even desirable, has to be flighted or implemented or initiated, it's got to be supported by a lot of discussion, by role-players, even by ordinary people.' [email protected]
IOL News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
'He is supremely talented at finding the right lever to pull': Trevor Noah on Elon Musk's disinformation regarding South Africa
Award-winning comedian Trevor Noah has opened up about the claims that Elon Musk has been making about South Africa. In his podcast, What Now? Noah raised questions about the tech billionaire, his business tactics, and even questioned whether he is a con artist. Noah pointed to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBEE) as being at the core of Musk's discontent with the country. "If you look at Elon's plight with South Africa, I saw it start when he was not able to launch Starlink in the country because of government laws," he said. Musk has repeatedly said that the satellite internet service is not available in the country due to his race and the supposed 142 anti-white race laws. "Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa, because I'm not black," said the X owner.
