The offer will come at a last-minute meeting planned for Tuesday night between Musk or his representatives and a delegation of South African officials travelling with President Cyril Ramaphosa, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
It's meant to defuse the onslaught of criticism by Musk and Trump - who've spread the conspiracy theory that there's a genocide against white people in South Africa - before Ramaphosa's visit to the White House on Wednesday, said the people, who asked not to be identified as they're not authorised to discuss the matter.
The alternative to black economic empowerment laws that in some cases require 30 black ownership is not specific to Starlink and Musk, the people said. It would be applied to all ICT companies, including those from China and the Middle East, the people said.
An equity equivalence option would instead involve investments in infrastructure or training, or providing Starlink kits to rural areas in order to help improve internet access. The motoring industry in 2019 signed up for a similar workaround that involved the largest car manufacturers - including BMW, Ford and Toyota - setting up a fund to invest in bring disenfrachised groups into the sector.
Musk, who was born in Pretoria, claimed that he was not allowed to operate his satellite service in South Africa "because I'm not black" and accused the government of having "openly racist ownership laws".
