Short cuts can be costly, counterproductive and dangerous, Minister Malatsi
EDITOR'S NOTE
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi defending his ICT policy and denying affording special treatment for Starlink. He is pushing for the sector regulations to be "aligned" with transformation laws through equity equivalent investment options.
Image: X/IOLGraphics
If the BS by Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi that his directive proposing the relaxation of the BBBEE regime had nothing to do with Elon Musk and his Starlink business didn’t jeopardise the core of what South Africa is about I would have simply joined the many good, law-abiding citizens who simply laughed it off.
But this is serious. Here we’re talking about our Constitution, our noble and well-intentioned laws, our national honour and sovereignty, our post-1994 dispensation’s foundation and so on.
Malatsi’s timing has been described as “deeply unfortunate” by some, but I’d like to label it as very revealing about him and very cheap. Even primary school kids could see the minister’s slip showing very plainly as he ran around like a headless chicken, somersaulting backwards and forwards to fling the gates open for the tech billionaire bully while still pledging support for our national transformation project.
But all this sound and fury by the minister won’t amount to much. His proposal may simply be rejected, as it has been “roundly” repudiated by the parliamentary committee that summoned him to explain his actions. Which will bring all of us back to square one.
Malatsi and his ilk may have been watching too much TV. Watching US President Donald Trump riding roughshod over everything he dislikes by sitting down and signing executive orders can be very tempting for any ambitious politician. But that’s not how laws are made in functional democracies like our Mzansi.
This is not to say the minister is simply crazy – like Trump and Musk. There’s some method in his madness. He’s trying to deal with an extremely challenging malady that has infected global trade and business in general and has had a fast-acting corrosive effect on the rules, etiquette, culture and other good things everyone used to take for granted.
Thankfully, South Africa is still a democratic nation. The processes for law making and amendment are well known and still stand. And we generally take our sweet time before anything gets done. So, why rush now?
My advice for the minister, or anyone wanting to quickly remove these hurdles standing in front of our good potential international investors would be to simply follow and trust the established processes. Short cuts can be costly, counterproductive and dangerous.