South Africa’s Starlink row shifts from licencing dispute to politics

Solly Malatsi, South Africa’s Communications Minister, has said the Starlink licencing controversy has evolved from a satellite broadband debate into a political battle over his reform agenda

In a sharply worded letter, dated Sunday and addressed to Parliament’s communications committee chairperson Khusela Sangoni, Malatsi rejects suggestions that he was influenced into pursuing policy changes that could benefit Starlink, insisting the reforms predated any engagement with the satellite operator.

“It is impossible to be unduly influenced to do something one is already doing,” he wrote, arguing that recognising Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs) in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector was already part of both the Democratic Alliance (DA) party’s 2024 election manifesto and the GNU’s Medium Term Development Plan.

The letter marks a turning point in a dispute that has rapidly evolved from questions about Starlink’s market access into one of the GNU’s most politically charged technology controversies.

Rather than merely responding to Parliament’s request for clarification, Malatsi, who is also the DA’s Deputy Federal Chairperson, sought to dismantle the narrative that private lobbying influenced government policy.

His response came after Sangoni, a senior African National Congress (ANC) member,  requested a detailed explanation following claims by former agriculture minister John Steenhuisen alleging that public affairs firm Resolve Communications facilitated engagements between government ministers and private clients, including Starlink. Resolve Communications, owned by former DA leader Tony Leon, declined to comment on the allegations but on Sunday rejected the allegations.

In her letter to Malatsi on July 1, Sangoni said that while…