At a Bloomberg-hosted forum near Cape Town on Monday, Mondli Gungubele, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Communications and Technology, made a direct appeal to Elon Musk: "Can you get along with us? Work with us in this journey of minimizing inequality?" He also said he hopes Elon is listening.
Starlink has not launched in South Africa, the continent's largest economy. In South Africa, firms providing telecommunications services, including Starlink, must follow licensing rules that mandate 30% ownership by Black citizens. The rules stem from post-apartheid policies that compelled businesses in certain sectors to divest shares to Black people who had been excluded under White-minority rule. Musk has criticized the ownership rule as racist, and on April 12 wrote on X that he cannot secure an operating license "simply because I am not Black."
That promise is part of why officials are still at the table with Starlink. Gungubele said the government is continuing to talk to Starlink.
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If Starlink eventually turns on service in South Africa, people who have faced expensive or unreliable options could have another way to get online. For anyone tracking connectivity on the continent, the real signal to watch is whether government outreach and company responses move closer together on the 30% ownership rule.
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