South Africa Doesn’t Think Starlink’s Plans Are So Slick

The Trump administration has reportedly used its tariff negotiations to pressure countries into fast-tracking deals with Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink. South Africa does not appear willing to play the game. According to a report from Bloomberg, lawmakers are calling bullshit on Starlink’s attempts to bypass the nation’s laws that require companies to have 30% Black ownership to operate within its borders. Last week, a member of South Africa’s second-largest governing party proposed a rule change that would allow companies like Starlink to get an exemption to South Africa’s economic-empowerment laws. Under the proposal, a company could offer an “equity equivalent,” including investment in the nation’s information and communication technology sector. Such alternatives already exist for the automotive industry in the nation to account for multinational companies that want to do business in South Africa but can’t directly sell off a share of ownership to meet South Afric ... Read full article.