In a reply dated 11 June 2026, Malatsi said ICASA confirmed it had not received any licence applications from Starlink for any of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Spectrum allocation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Individual Electronic Communications Network Service (I-ENCS) licence<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Individual Electronic Communications Service (I-ECS) licence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The minister also said Starlink had not applied to transfer any of these licences from an existing holder to itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malatsi added that he could not comment on B-BBEE conditions that apply to these licences and denied any engagement between his department and SpaceX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over several years, a number of politicians have highlighted that Starlink had not even applied to ICASA for the relevant licensing in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, framing the lack of applications as indicative of Starlink’s lack of interest or disrespect for South African regulations is disingenuous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starlink’s parent company, SpaceX, is keenly aware that it cannot apply for the licences because it does not meet ICASA’s current requirements for licensing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the Electronic Communications Act (ECA), telecoms licensees are required to be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups (HDGs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These include Black people, women, youth, and people with disabilities. For BEE purposes, Black is defined as black Africans, Indians, Coloureds, and certain people of Chinese descent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, since ICASA is not currently granting new licences, Starlink would need to apply to transfer a licence from a local entity licensee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even in the case of a transfer, the satellite Internet provider would still need to meet the 30% HDG requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources close to the matter have told MyBroadband that the communications regulator effectively told Starlink not to bother with submitting licence applications as they would be rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) legislation allows for equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) in other industries as an alternative to the 30% ownership requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malatsi has issued a policy direction to ICASA to align its regulations with the provisions of the Amended ICT Sector Code and B-BBEE Act to accommodate EEIPs in the telecoms sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If EEIPs were implemented in the sector, foreign players like Starlink could be granted licences to operate locally if they commit an alternative investment that advances South Africa’s transformation goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICASA pushes back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ICASA-logo-1200x675.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nICASA’s Annual Performance Plan for 2026\/27 mentioned this policy directive but did not include performance indicators for its progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked about this, Malatsi told MyBroadband that he would demand answers from ICASA on the reasons for the lack of sufficient detail on the policy direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The law is clear that ICASA must consider the policy direction, and the expectation is that it must happen within a reasonable time,” the minister said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malatsi added that consideration of the policy direction could not continue indefinitely. Amongst others, his directive proposed amending the 30% ownership requirement to allow EEIPs to be recognised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“EEIPs are a legally recognised pathway for investment in South Africa for companies that do not have local shareholding,” Malatsi’s department said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It added that EEIPs ensure inclusion by enabling international firms to invest in the country while committing to broader empowerment goals through a series of measurable outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in May 2026, ICASA said it would not consider changing the BEE ownership regulations for telecoms licences until the law was amended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement, the regulator resisted Malatsi’s attempts to introduce EEIPs in the sector. It said it remained committed to advancing transformation and empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“ICASA is enjoined to advance the historically disadvantaged groups as guided by the Electronic Communications Act,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The regulator explained that the ECA required a minimum 30% ownership by HDGs by individual licence holders. However, this is a disputed interpretation of the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When introduced in 2006, it stated that the percentage “must not be less than 30%, or such higher percentage as may be prescribed”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was amended to the following wording in 2014: “must not be less than 30%, or such other conditions or higher percentage as may be prescribed under section 4(3)(k) of the ICASA Act”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some telecoms industry experts argued the use of “or such other conditions” in this case meant ICASA could already recognise EEIPs without changing the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICASA has sided with those who maintain the ECA must be amended first, which would require a legislative process with public participation, approval from Parliament, and sign-off by the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it did not explain why the ECA prevented it from aligning its regulations with other sectors in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Authority will continue to engage with the Ministry within the confines of its mandate,” ICASA stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Several politicians have attempted to frame Starlink’s delay in applying for a telecoms licence as a signal of a lack of intent to launch in South Africa. The truth is far more obvious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":642399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[76860,100040,18090,563,76862,11375,48987,88686,105265],"class_list":["post-654094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadband","tag-department-of-communications-and-digital-technologies","tag-equity-equivalent-investment-programmes-eeips","tag-independent-communications-authority-of-south-africa-icasa","tag-satellite-internet","tag-solly-malatsi","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-telecoms-licences","tag-telecoms-licensing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654094"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654345,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654094\/revisions\/654345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}