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Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Comms Minister Malatsi sticks to policy directive allowing multinationals to improve SA's infrastructure
CAPE TOWN - The Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Solly Malatsi, says people should not obsess over Starlink, saying his new regulations will involve other companies. Malatsi again defended his policy directive, which allows multinationals to contribute to the economy through infrastructure development and other means, instead of ceding 30% ownership. On Tuesday, he told the Cape Town Press Club that the new regulations aren't intended to give Elon Musk's company, Starlink, a free pass. He further added that the new regulations are not akin to ministerial overreach. ALSO READ: Malatsi says his policy directive is not a scheme to give Starlink a backdoor into South Africa or circumvent the country's transformation laws. He says the directive is one of a range of interventions to grow the sector and transform it through other initiatives and involves other companies besides Starlink. "Whether it is Spacex, Starlink, Amazon's Project Kuiper, or Eutelsat OneWeb . Any other entrant offering alternative connectivity models, our objective remains the same." Malatsi says the regulations will consider all the written comments and public submissions before the process closes later this month.
Eyewitness News
23-04-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Davis questions economic sense behind impending VAT hike
CAPE TOWN - Retired judge and chair of the tax review committee, Dennis Davis, has questioned the economic sense behind an impending value-added tax (VAT) hike. He believes that in a budget of more than R2 trillion, the shortfall can be found by cutting expenditure instead. In an address to the Cape Town Press Club on Tuesday, Davis said the staggering spend on the public sector wage bill was also something government needed to reconsider. Having chaired the tax committee that made recommendations to Treasury on tax policy between 2013 and 2019, Judge Dennis Davis thinks a tax hike in a stagnant economy is unnecessary. When compared to the size of the country's budget, Davis believes the money Treasury hopes to raise from a 0.5 percentage point increase from May is relatively small.
