How to get Starlink 'monkey' off our back: Cosatu suggests a workaround BEE law for Elon Musk

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) believes a way can be found for Elon Musk’s Starlink to establish in South Africa without giving away a 30 percent stake as stipulated in the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, in an effort to foster crucial relations with the United States.

IOL reported on Tuesday that as diplomatic tensions simmer between the United States and South Africa, the Pretoria authorities are extending an olive branch to Washington, including exploring a workaround to the BEE law.

According to Bloomberg sources familiar with the matter, the South African government was preparing to offer Musk a tailored solution that circumvents existing BEE requirements — rules which Musk has repeatedly slammed as "racist and improper".

The South Africa-born, US-based CEO of Tesla and Starlink was in the room on Wednesday night when President Cyril Ramaphosa met United States President Donald Trump in a high-level showdown, which was meant to reset South Africa-US relations.

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Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Cosatu national spokesperson Zanele Sabela said as a way forward from the president’s meeting, concrete steps must now be taken to elevate the bilateral ties, and Starlink could be one of the building blocks.

“What should happen next is, we need to see more happening. Starlink was mentioned, Elon Musk was in the room and in the past he said he was not given a licence because he is not black. The issue is that he did not want to give 30 percent of his company to a black consortium,” said Sabela.

“In terms of that, it won’t be the first time. In the BEE legislation, when you are unable to give shareholding, then there are things that you can do, in terms that you can actually contribute into the country. You can train people, you can build some coding training centre somewhere, you can give jobs. There are things we can start to talk about  … so that we can get this monkey off our back in terms of the fires that Elon has been stoking.”

In March, IOL reported that the controversial South Africa-born billionaire businessman, Musk’s Starlink had not applied for a licence to operate in South Africa, despite claiming that broad-based black economic empowerment laws are preventing his company from setting up.

At the time, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) had indicated that Starlink had not yet applied for a licence.

In South Africa, Starlink is listed at “service date is unknown” while it is starting in 2025 in Lesotho, Namibia, Tanzania, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its services are available in eSwatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Burundi, among other African countries.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

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