Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya. Picture: X / @PresidencyZA South Africa will welcome Starlink to the country as long as Elon Musk’s company abides by local laws, while the fight is ongoing to ensure the past 12 months of G20 engagements are not forgotten. Spokesperson in The Presidency, Vincent Magwenya, highlighted these two points on Monday as he gave a year-end progress report.
Magwenya also elaborated on the expected timeframes applicable to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. Following an opening statement where he listed South Africa’s successes in 2025, Magwenya fielded several questions from the media. Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi faced criticism this weekend aftergazetting reformsto remove “impediments to both national and international investments” in the ICT sector.
Friday’s gazette was seen as a way to clear a path for Starlink to operate in South Africa, but Magwenya said there were other players involved. “We should just avoid the trap of getting fixated over Starlink. There are four or five other companies that have expressed interest in providing these services here in South Africa — it is not only Starlink.” He stated that while Malatsi was working within the law by attempting to “accelerate those processes” regarding ICT operating licence applications, he clarified that the law was clear on equity ownership stipulations.
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“What the president will not endorse, and cannot endorse, is the subversion of the law. “In his engagements with various role players in this sector, the president has been quite clear that whatever is done must be done within the framework of our laws,” said Magwenya. The spokesperson lashed out on Musk-owned X on Saturday, suggesting the billionaire businessman was an “unhinged, unrepentant racist” in his comments about South African laws.
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