The Pretoria-born Musk has indicated that he wants Starlink internet services, which rely on a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites, to be made available in South Africa. But he has refused to relinquish any equity in the business to comply with black empowerment rules - which he says are "openly racist".
Policy direction will be determined following inputs from all interested parties, "but the awarding of a licence will remain in the hands" of communications regulator Icasa, communications minister Solly Malatsi told the Cape Town Press Club on Tuesday. "There will be a lot of issues remaining that can only be worked out between the applicant and Icasa."
Malatsi has championed changes to the empowerment laws for multinational satellite providers. He's proposed that instead of being required to partner with black shareholders they should be able to qualify for operating licences by meeting other requirements, such as investing in black-owned businesses and related infrastructure within South Africa.