South Africa has moved to resolve long-standing inconsistencies in ICT ownership regulations after the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies , Solly Malatsi, gazetted a final policy direction requiring the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa ICASA to fully align its licensing and ownership framework with the national ICT Sector Code.
The directive, issued on 12 December 2025, follows a draft published in May and an extensive public participation process that generated more than 19 000 submissions, including over 15 000 substantive comments. According to the Department, 90 percent of respondents backed the policy direction, noting its potential to unlock investment, accelerate broadband rollout, and clarify regulatory expectations for the sector.
Malatsi explained that years of misalignment between ICASA's Ownership Regulations and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment BBBEE ICT Sector Code have discouraged both local and foreign investors. While the ICT Sector Code recognises several empowerment avenues-such as Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes EEIPs, skills development, management control, and procurement-ICASA's current framework applies only selected provisions. Government argues that this partial application has created regulatory uncertainty and slowed transformation efforts.
