Communications Minister Solly Malatsi says it is legally impossible for him to offer an Equity Equivalent Investment Programme, or EEIP, to multinational companies like Starlink. He says that decision does not sit with his department, but with South Africa’s laws and telecoms regulations.

The issue has put South Africa’s ICT sector in a difficult position. While the country’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment framework allows certain multinationals to earn empowerment points through investment instead of selling shares, ICASA’s licensing rules do not currently recognise that route for individual licences.

Why EEIPs are not an option right now

EEIPs are meant for multinational firms that cannot meet standard black ownership targets because of global ownership structures. These programmes allow companies to score empowerment points by investing in training, skills development and local enterprise support.

But Malatsi says ICASA’s current regulations only recognise direct ownership by historically disadvantaged groups as a valid empowerment measure for telecoms licences. That means companies like Starlink cannot rely on EEIPs to enter the local market under the current framework.

Malatsi said he issued a policy direction in May 2025 because of what he called a misalignment between ICASA’s regulations, the BBBEE Act and the ICT Sector Code. He said the aim was to get ICASA to consider reviewing its ownership rules, not to change the law for any one company.

He also pushed back against claims that the move was designed to help Elon Musk’s Starlink. According to Malatsi, his plan to improve South Africa’s investment environment had been raised months earlier and was never about a single business.

Licence fight remains unresolved

ICASA chairperson Mothibi Ramusi previously confirmed that Starlink had not submitted a formal licence application in South Africa. That means the satellite internet company remains outside the country’s regulated telecoms market for now.

The debate has since intensified, with Parliament’s communications committee questioning Malatsi’s approach and several organisations threatening court action over any attempt to relax B-BBEE requirements. At the centre of it all is a bigger question: how South Africa balances transformation laws with investment and connectivity goals.