The South African government will offer Elon Musk a workaround to its Black ownership laws, aiming to enable his Starlink internet service to operate in the country. This move seeks to ease tensions with both the billionaire and President Donald Trump.
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The proposed offer was made during a last-minute meeting between Musk or his representatives and a South African delegation accompanying President Cyril Ramaphosa. The meeting precedes Ramaphosa’s visit to the White House on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Sources familiar with the discussions indicated the offer is intended to defuse criticism from Musk and Trump, who have amplified unsubstantiated claims of a genocide against White people in South Africa.
This alternative to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, which sometimes mandate 30% Black ownership, isn’t specific to Starlink. It would apply to all information and communication technology (ICT) companies, including those from China and the Middle East. This “Equity Equivalent” option would involve investments in infrastructure, training, or providing Starlink kits to rural areas to expand internet access. A similar workaround was adopted by the automotive industry in 2019.
BEE rules were enacted post-apartheid to address the historical economic exclusion of Black people. Official statistics show that White individuals in South Africa still earn, on average, five times more than Black individuals and own the vast majority of farmland, despite being only 7% of the population.
South Africa’s Department of Communications and Digital Technologies emphasized that the new ICT rules are part of a broader strategy to foster international investment and expand digital connectivity across the country.
Talks regarding Starlink’s launch in South Africa stalled earlier this year as Musk and Trump escalated public rhetoric against policies like BEE. Musk, born in Pretoria, claimed he was barred from operating his satellite service “because I’m not Black” and accused the government of “openly racist ownership laws.” Trump has echoed these sentiments, granting refugee status to White minorities in South Africa and criticizing a land expropriation law, which he likens to US eminent domain, though it allows for expropriation without compensation in specific cases. To date, no land has been seized under this law. Trump recently repeated the false claim of a White genocide in South Africa, which a South African court dismissed as “clearly imagined and not real.”
While not necessarily part of a larger US trade deal, getting Musk on board with Starlink’s operation could foster more positive engagements between the two countries. Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellite technology holds significant promise for South African users, who have historically faced expensive or unreliable internet options. A 2023 survey by Statistics South Africa revealed that only 1.7% of rural households have internet access, highlighting Starlink’s potential as a transformative solution for digital inclusion.
