Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson Karabo Khakhau has reiterated the party’s call to enable equity equivalent investment as an alternative to South Africa’s BEE ownership requirements in the ICT sector.

Currently, for a foreign company to get a licence to operate in South Africa’s ICT sector, it must be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups (HDGs).

As an alternative, communications minister Solly Malatsi wants to enable equity-equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) in the ICT sector.

In December 2025, he instructed the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to amend its BEE rules for the ICT sector via a notice published in the Government Gazette.

Khakhau renewed the party’s support for EEIPs in the ICT sector in an interview with 702 earlier this week.

Speaking about the DA’s expectations for the 2026 State of the Nation Address, she said BEE would be a key topic. She explained that BEE is a contentious issue within the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Khakhau said the DA hoped its push to change BEE regulations would make enough of an impact for President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the topic as a priority in 2026.

She said President Cyril Ramaphosa needed to answer a critical question: how do we strengthen empowerment without sacrificing investment?

“For example, Elon Musk says he wants to come to South Africa, but he does not want to share ownership,” Khakhau said.

By this, she referred to the Musk-owned SpaceX wanting to bring its Starlink satellite broadband service to South Africa, which he has been unwilling to do due to HDG ownership restrictions for telecoms licences.

“Okay, you don’t want to share your ownership or your shares. Then build a school, build a clinic, help us fix our water and sanitation infrastructure,” she said. “That’s equity equivalence.”

Khakhau added that the DA won’t support allowing Musk and Starlink to operate in South Africa without at least completing these equity equivalence projects.

“Nobody comes into your house and tells you what to do. When you come to South Africa, you obey South Africa’s rules,” she said.

Musk takes aim at race-based laws

Musk has repeatedly said on his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), that Starlink can’t launch in South Africa because of his skin colour.

His latest criticism came in early January 2026 in response to a video where he criticised laws that treat people differently based on the colour of their skin.

He said Starlink isn’t permitted to obtain an Internet service provider operating licence in South Africa because he is not black.

He has since deleted the post. However, in another post, he said he was extremely opposed to all anti-Black and anti-White laws.

“There should be a fair and even playing field,” Musk said. “The facts are there for anyone to observe. South Africa now has more anti-White laws than there were anti-Black laws under Apartheid.”

He was referring to an index developed by the Institute of Race Relations, which found that South Africa currently has more race-based laws in operation than at the height of Apartheid.

Starlink itself has repeatedly voiced its support for B-BBEE in South Africa. However, its primary point of contention is the 30% HDG ownership requirement for telecoms licensees.

Starlink has advocated for EEIPs to be recognised as an alternative mechanism to qualify for telecommunications licences in South Africa.

One way this could happen is through Malatsi’s instruction to Icasa to amend regulations to align with the amended B-BBEE ICT Sector Code and the government’s national economic inclusion policy.

This came after months of analysing extensive public comment on his proposed policy direction before making it final. Malatsi said over 90% of interested parties expressed their support.

“Only one step remains: Icasa must implement the directive,” SpaceX has said. “By correcting just four sentences in the licensing regulations, Starlink service could be available nationwide within weeks.”

The company emphasised that it has not asked and would not receive any special treatment. “Once licensed, Starlink will operate as a fully B-BBEE-compliant entity,” it said.

Source: MyBroadband