Starlink's controversial market entry stirs political landscape in South Africa
Reports suggested the DA pushed for Starlink to enter the South African market as part of the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) negotiations to compete with existing network providers without requiring it to sell a 30% stake to a local black-owned company.
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After it was revealed that the DA had decided to bring Starlink to South Africa in 2023, a fresh political conflict between the ANC and the DA in the Government of National Unity is imminent.
Ellon Musk's Starlink is currently being pushed by the DA through its own Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, to enter the South African market without fulfilling the fundamental requirement of the Black Economic Empowerment policy, which is to sell 30% to black businesses.
The revelations which was reported by Sunday newspaper proved that Malatsi is implementing his party policy when he directed ICASA to re-align its policies to allow Starlink to enter the SA market without selling its shares to black South African as required by BEE.
Reports suggested the DA pushed for Starlink to enter the South African market as part of the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) negotiations to compete with existing network providers without requiring it to sell a 30% stake to a local black-owned company. The plan was meant to be implemented if the MPC won the elections last year, but now the DA seems to be pushing for it anyway, despite not winning.
Although the ANC has condemned Malatsi's move, political analysts say the cabinet and President Cyril Ramaphosa are highly unlikely to stop the move because the ANC has lost its hegemony in South African politics.
Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast said he is not expecting any tangible action by the ANC-led GNU to block Starlink because the party has lost its teeth in South African politics. He stated that at some stage the ANC must swallow its pride and make compromises to its transformative policies because it chose the DA over the centre left parties such as Umkhonto weSizwe Party and EFF when forming the GNU.
He said it is a question of ideologies where the DA believes in liberalism which allows an open market system with little government intervention in the economy.
“There is nothing much the ANC and Ramaphosa would do here. The DA is clearly flexing its political muscle to prove that it did not join the GNU to push the ANC transformation agenda. In a coalition, there must be compromises so at some point, the ANC will have to let go of its transformation policies because it has lost hegemony,” said Breakfast.
Another political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe concurred with Breakfast, saying the DA’s move against BEE despite ANC’s noise proves that it is the ANC that needs the DA more than the DA needs ANC in this marriage.
“Black people must not expect any action from Ramaphosa to stop Starlink. The DA proves that it is leading the GNU. It is the ANC that needs the DA ,” said Seepe.
DA federal council chair Helen Zille was quoted as saying that Malatsi’s decision was in line with the DA’s policies that provide an empowerment alternative to the ANC’s broad-based BEE policy. She supported Malatsi, saying he was within his legal and constitutional purview as minister to do what he did.
Malatsi has been at loggerheads with the ANC’s Communications and Digital Technologies portfolio committee chair Khusela Diko about the matter, accusing the minister of reversing the country’s equity laws.