Elon Musk’s Starlink internet blocked in South Africa

SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, the world’s richest person with a net worth exceeding USD 600 billion, has reignited debate by claiming South Africa’s telecommunications regulations are preventing his satellite internet service Starlink from launching in the country because he is not Black.

In a post on X on 8 January 2026, Musk stated: “Starlink is not allowed to have an Internet provider license in South Africa for the sole reason that I am not Black.” The remark, which spread rapidly, echoed his earlier comments at the 2025 Qatar Economic Forum where he criticised race-based preferential policies and called the situation absurd.

Business impact of race policies

Musk, who was born in Pretoria during the apartheid era, argued that South Africa now has more “anti-White laws” than anti-Black laws under apartheid. He pointed to data from the Institute of Race Relations, which in early 2025 recorded 145 operative race-based laws — more than the peak number during apartheid according to the group’s Index of Race Law.

Musk called for a “fair and even playing field,” describing race-based legislation as fundamentally unjust.

The dispute centres on South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment framework, created to address apartheid-era economic inequalities by advancing participation of historically disadvantaged groups, mainly Black South Africans. In the telecommunications sector, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa requires licensees to allocate at least 30% equity to such groups, including Black South Africans, women, youth and people with disabilities.

Starlink, which maintains a global policy of 100% ownership, has not submitted a formal licence application. The company instead promotes Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes — an alternative mechanism that lets foreign firms comply through infrastructure development, skills training and community investments rather than direct equity transfers.

Starlink expands across Africa

Starlink has committed substantial resources, including R500 million (about USD 30 million) to deliver free high-speed internet and equipment to 5000 rural schools, and a total planned investment of up to R2 billion (more than USD 120 million) in South Africa. The company says it backs Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment goals and would operate as a fully compliant provider once licensed, without requesting special treatment.

Communications Minister Solly Malatsi issued a policy directive in December 2025 instructing the authority to align licensing rules with the amended Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment ICT Sector Code and national inclusion policies. This would recognise Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes and potentially open the door for Starlink and other satellite operators.

Starlink described the required change as involving only “four sentences” in the regulations to enable nationwide service within weeks. In early January 2026 the company urged interested South Africans to contact the authority in support of the directive, highlighting its potential to accelerate digital inclusion in underserved regions.

Despite the progress, the directive has drawn criticism from parliamentary committees, the African National Congress and the Economic Freedom Fighters, who accuse Malatsi of exceeding his authority and weakening transformation objectives. The Presidency has emphasised the authority’s independence while defending redress policies as vital to repairing apartheid’s legacy.

Starlink has expanded quickly across Africa since 2022, operating in Namibia, Lesotho, Cameroon, Somalia and Congo where regulatory approvals were granted more rapidly.

Musk’s intervention has fuelled intense discussion about reconciling post-apartheid redress with the need to attract foreign investment to close the digital divide. Government officials insist Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment remains a remedial, not exclusionary, policy.

As the authority considers the directive, South Africa’s route to widespread satellite broadband — and Starlink’s entry — hangs in the balance, highlighting broader tensions between economic empowerment and global competitiveness.