Latest news with #Pretoria-born
IOL News
12 hours ago
- Business
- IOL News
ATM calls for the ban of Elon Musk's Starlink in South Africa, citing legal concerns
The ATM has called for a total ban on Starlink operating in South Africa. Image: Reuters The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has called for the immediate banning of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite broadband service in South Africa, citing concerns over the company's alleged disregard for local laws and exploitation of resources. According to ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona, Starlink's operations in the country are not only unauthorised but also pose a threat to national sovereignty. The ATM's call for a ban comes after Pretoria-born billionaire Elon Musk claimed that Starlink was not allowed to operate in South Africa because he is not black, sparking controversy over the country's Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) regulations. However, the South African government has denied these claims, stating that Starlink is welcome to operate in the country, provided it complies with local laws. Further concerns over Starlink's operations in South Africa center around the company's alleged failure to follow local regulations and its potential impact on the country's economy. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading "We voice our deep concern over yet another instance of foreign entities exploiting our resources, disregarding our laws, and undermining our national sovereignty," Ntshona said. The South African government has rejected Elon Musk's claim that Starlink is banned due to his race. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation previously said Starlink was welcome to operate in South Africa provided there was compliance with local laws. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has confirmed that Starlink has not applied for an operating license. The government has emphasised the need for compliance with local telecommunications regulations. The regulatory requirements for telecommunications services in South Africa include compliance with the country's BEE policies, which aim to promote economic transformation and equity. Foreign-owned companies, including Starlink, are required to sell 30% of their local equity to historically disadvantaged groups.
The South African
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The South African
'Ultimate scam artist?': Trevor Noah on Elon Musk's antics
Trevor Noah has weighed in on the widespread criticism of Elon Musk, also a South African, who has been accused of spreading 'misinformation' about his country of birth. This follows the tech billionaire businessman's clash with the local government, which called on his satellite company, Starlink, to abide by transformation legislation. He's also addressed Afrikaner 'refugees' and claims that they are being persecuted. During an episode of his What Now? Podcast – titled Is Elon Musk the ultimate scam artist – Trevor Noah delved into the Pretoria-born billionaire's controversies. The South African comedian touched on topics like Elon's upbringing, his views on Apartheid, and how he has used that to further his business interests. Trevor Noah – who is also a US citizen like Elon – accused the X owner of being 'erratic', working through 'manic' episodes, and essentially manipulating his position of power and influence. Trevor said: 'Elon's plight with South Africa started when he wasn't able to launch Starlink in South Africa… Elon [took it personally] and was like 'I'm going to find a way to break the system 'He is supremely talented at finding the right lever to pull, and he will pull it'. During the episode, Trevor Noah also took a swipe at Afrikaner 'refugees' who recently arrived in the US. According to Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, South Africa's 'racist laws' and 'white genocide' Trevor joked about meeting the 'refugees' at his local golf club, where they complained about how 'tough' it was in SA. Of the US's refugee status offer to white South Africans, Trevor added: 'That is a joke, it's actually funny'. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
IOL News
26-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Starlink deal a threat to SA's sovereignty
Elon Musk has previously claimed Starlink was barred from operating in South Africa because he is not Black, an allegation South African officials refuted. Image: AFP COMMUNICATIONS and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi's policy directive that could pave the way for Starlink satellite internet service to operate without the requisite BBBEE laws means the country's sovereignty has been held at ransom by people who have been throwing insults against it. "We are not against Starlink or the investment but against the changing of our laws to accommodate individuals and people who do not respect the country and its laws. We would have lost the country's sovereignty as no one is exempted from complying with the laws of the country,' said Black Business Council (BBC) CEO Kganki Matabane. He was reacting to reports that Starlink, owned by Pretoria-born billionaire Elon Musk, might operate in South Africa without meeting the 30% HDG (historically disadvantaged groups) ownership requirement in the ICT sector - through an Equity Equivalent Programme (EEP). According to Minister Solly Malatsi, easing B-BBEE licensing requirements will 'harmonise legislation' and boost competition, supporting the government's mission to expand reliable broadband access to underserved South African communities. Image: Supplied Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Malatsi's gazette under the Electronic Communications Act (ECA), a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa returned from his White House meeting with US President Donald Trump and Musk, has come under intense scrutiny. During this meeting, South African billionaire Johann Rupert, who was part of Ramaphosa's delegation, told Musk that the country needed to have a starlink satellite in every police station. However, Malatsi's spokesperson Kwena Moloto denied that the directive was drafted to allow Musk to bypass regulatory requirements and said the timing of the publication was a coincidence. Moloto said the minister is empowered by the EIPs, provided for under the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (Act 53 of 2003) and the ICT Sector Code, to initiate the directive. "The minister is empowered by the BEE Act which allows qualifying multinationals to meet empowerment obligations through alternatives to 30% ownership - such as investing in local suppliers, enterprise and skills development, job creation, infrastructure support, research and innovation, digital inclusion initiatives, and funding for SMMEs."Despite the legal standing of the ICT Sector Code under the BBBEE Act, ICASA's Ownership Regulations do not fully reflect its provisions - particularly regarding deemed ownership and EEIPs. Therefore, this policy direction aims to ensure consistency, unlock investment, and give practical effect to the ICT Sector Code in line with national development goals, including transformation," Moloto said. Musk, who is also part of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) team, has been leading the charge with false claims that there was white genocide in South Africa. They falsely claimed the signing of the Expropriation Bill into an Act was a way for the government to seize land from whites. Opposition parties have maintained that the US's hostile treatment of South Africa under the Trump administration was another way of pressuring the Ramaphosa-led government to accommodate Starlink. Build One South Africa Deputy president, Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster said if the government can bend the country's regulations for international businesses, it can do the same for the country's businesses. "BOSA calls on Malatsi, to make public the record of decision in this matter, so as to assure the people of South Africa that this was not a back door deal. This is not transformation, it's capitulation. "The message being sent is that if you are a powerful foreign billionaire, you can sidestep South Africa's laws, while our local businesses are forced to jump through hoops. What begins with special concessions, ends in state capture," Hlazo-Webster said. African Transformation Movement (ATM) leader Vuyolwethu Zungula called for the immediate withdrawal of the gazette saying: "This government gazette is nothing short of a shameless sellout to American oligarchs Elon Musk and Donald Trump - a move that spits in the face of our nation's transformation agenda. "By rolling out the red carpet for Starlink and other American corporations, the ANC/DA coalition is handing over our digital future to foreign hands, undermining local businesses, and betraying the very people they swore to uplift. This is not transformation, it is neo-colonialism dressed up as 'investment'."
IOL News
25-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Business leaders and opposition slam Malatsi's policy directive, say it is a threat to BBBEE
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi faces a backlash after a proposal to amend the digital communication policy for foreign communication companies to bypass the BEE requirement. Image: X Business organisations and opposition political parties have reacted strongly to the recent policy directive issued by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi that could allow the Starlink satellite internet service to operate in the country without the requisite BBBEE laws, saying this is a threat to black economic empowerment. Critics of the move say that suggesting that Starlink, owned by Pretoria-born billionaire Elon Musk, might operate in South Africa without meeting the 30% HDG (historically disadvantaged groups) ownership requirement in the ICT sector—through an Equity Equivalent Programme (EEP), the Minister is attempting to recast the country's licensing laws through this policy directive. They have also questioned the timing of Malatsi's gazette underf the Electronic Communications Act (ECT), a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa returned from his White House meeting with US President Donald Trump and Musk, who has condemned the country's empowerment laws. Malatsi's spokesperson has denied that the directive was drafted to allow Musk to bypass regulatory requirements and said the timing of the publication was coincidence. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Kganki Matabane, CEO of the Black Business Council (BBC) said Malatsi's policy directive means the country's sovereignty has been held at ransom by people who have been throwing insults against it. "We are not against Starlink or the investment but against the changing of our laws to accommodate individuals and people who do not respect the country and its laws. We would have lost the country's sovereignty as no one is exempted from complying with the laws of the country,' he said. These sentiments were also echoed by CEO of the Association of Comms and Technology (ACT), Nomvuyiso Batyi, who called for a proper market analysis to ensure the playing fields are levelled. The ACT is a nonprofit organisation doing advocacy work for the ICT sector. "We are calling for proper market analysis in order to check if the market is ready for such a directive and is done within the rule of law or it may have dire consequences. We are not against new entrants but are against lowering the bar for US interests, " she said. Batyi said the ECA stipulated that multinationals seeking licenses to operate in South Africa must comply with the 30% black ownership rules and that a directive attempting to bypass the Act is not legal as the ECA beats equity equivalents. BOSA Deputy president, Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster also weighed in on the matter saying if government can bend the country's regulations for international businesses, it can do the same for the country's businesses. "BOSA calls on Malatsi, to make public the record of decision in this matter, so as to assure the people of South Africa that this was not a back door deal. This is not transformation, it's capitulation. "The message being sent is that if you are a powerful foreign billionaire, you can sidestep South Africa's laws, while our local businesses are forced to jump through hoops. What begins with special concessions, ends in state capture," Hlazo-Webster said in a statement issued on Sunday. Leader of the African Transformation Movement (ATM), Vuyolwethu Zungula called for the immediate withdrawal of the gazette saying:" This government gazette, is nothing short of a shameless sellout to American oligarchs Elon Musk and Donald Trump—a move that spits in the face of our nation's transformation agenda. "By rolling out the red carpet for Starlink and other American corporations, the ANC/DA coalition is handing over our digital future to foreign hands, undermining local businesses, and betraying the very people they swore to uplift. This is not transformation, it is neo-colonialism dressed up as 'investment"." The MK party's spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela indicated that the party will not be taking the matter to court before it has exhausted all the parliamentary processes available which include requesting a formal legal opinion of the Parliamentary Legal Services in a bid to assess the constitutionality and procedural legality of the directive. "We are attending a Department of Communications and Digital Technologies Portfolio Committee meeting in Parliament on Tuesday morning with the Minister. We will then make a determination from there,'" Ndhlela stated. In a statement, Malatsi's spokesperson, Kwena Moloto said the minister is empowered by the EIPs, provided for under the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (Act 53 of 2003) and the ICT Sector Code to initiate the directive. "The minister is empowered by the the BEE Act which allows qualifying multinationals to meet empowerment obligations through alternatives to 30% ownership — such as investing in local suppliers,enterprise and skills development, job creation, infrastructure support, research and innovation, digital inclusion initiatives, and funding for SMMEs. "Despite the legal standing of the ICT Sector Code under the BBBEE Act, ICASA's Ownership Regulations do not fully reflect its provisions — particularly regarding deemed ownership and EEIPs. Therefore, this policy direction aims to ensure consistency, unlock investment, and give practical effect to the ICT Sector Code in line with national development goals, including transformation," Moloto said.
The South African
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The South African
Malema shares message to critics: 'Kill me now!'
Julius Malema has given the middle finger to his critics, after a clip of him singing Kill The Boer was played during a bilateral meeting in the White House between presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump. The Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) leader has been accused of promoting a 'white genocide' with his outspoken and contrioversial statements. MALEMA POSTS MESSAGE TO CRITICS On his X account, Julius Malema slammed calls for his arrest, specifically by US President Donald Trump and the world's richest man, Pretoria-born businessman Elon Musk. He posted: 'You will never put a good man down. I will never be defined by my enemies but by my loyalty to the cries of our people. You will never kill the idea whose time has come.' He added: 'Kill me now, cowards.' Malema's post comes a few hours after he reacted to Trump's call for him to be arrested. During the meeting, the EFF leader was also criticised by members of the South African delegation, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen, and billionaire businessman Johann Rupert. He posted of the Oval Office meeting: 'A group of older men meet in Washington to gossip about me. No significant amount of intelligence evidence has been produced about white genocide. 'We will not agree to compromise our political principles on land expropriation without compensation for political expediency. During the tense meeting, White House aides rolled out a TV which played a clip of Malema singing Kill The Boer and calling for land to be expropriated. The clip also contained imagery of Afrikaner memorial sites, which President Trump mistakenly referred to as 'burial sites'. Referring to the EFF leader, Trump asked Ramaphosa: 'Why don't you arrest that man? 'That man said, 'kill the white farmer' and danced. I think if someone got up and started singing to kill a certain group of people, he would be arrested quickly.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
