Two of South Africa’s most vocal opposition parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, have launched scathing attacks on the government’s newly gazetted draft regulations that would seemingly enable foreign tech giant Starlink to enter South Africa’s communications sector.
Both parties argue the move threatens national security, undermines Black economic empowerment, and represents a broader trend of handing South Africa’s digital future to unaccountable global capital.
The source of contention is Regulation 17.8, introduced under the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) Act, and a policy change by Communications Minister Solly Malatsi allowing companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in the country under so-called “Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes” (EEIPs).
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These EEIPs would allow foreign tech firms to bypass the 30% Black ownership requirement enshrined in South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policy.
Digital Colonialism in Disguise
The EFF warned that the policy shift opens the country’s cyber infrastructure to foreign control, describing it as “a major risk to South Africa’s national security.”
The party singled out Elon Musk, accusing him of using Starlink as a tool of foreign policy manipulation and citing his previous amplification of disinformation narratives, including the controversial “white genocide” claim in South Africa.
“Minister Malatsi is making way for Elon Musk, an ally of Trump, who has used devious means to bully the government into letting him into our ICT sector,” the EFF said. “This is corporate terror.”
The MK Party echoed these concerns, calling Regulation 17.8 a “treacherous blueprint” and a “betrayal disguised as reform.” In a fiery media statement, the party claimed the regulation is the result of a covert pact between President Cyril Ramaphosa, Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen, and former U.S. President Donald Trump to dismantle South Africa’s transformative ICT framework in favor of foreign tech monopolies.
“This is not just about Starlink,” the MK Party warned. “It sets a dangerous precedent for future state capture by foreign corporates. It opens the door to a deregulated, surveillance-prone digital future controlled by foreign actors.”
A Blow to Black Economic Empowerment
Both parties were unequivocal in condemning what they see as the erosion of BBBEE principles. The EFF criticized the use of EEIPs—such as skills development and digital literacy programmes—as a weak substitute for actual Black ownership and control in the ICT sector.
“Transformation cannot be achieved without ownership,” the EFF declared. “Instead of empowering Black South Africans, Malatsi wants to sell off our economy.”
The MK Party accused the government of using Section 23 of the SITA Act as a legal loophole to gut transformation obligations in state IT procurement. “The regulation creates a dual system ripe for abuse—one that honors transformation, and one that does not,” the statement read. “It institutionalises inequality and cronyism.”
Opaque Process, Demands for Accountability
The MK Party also challenged the legitimacy of the policy-making process, demanding full public disclosure of which stakeholders were consulted. “Was this a closed-door session for foreign monopolies and their local proxies?” the party asked.
They further alleged that no proper regulatory impact assessment was conducted and that the process was procedurally flawed and exclusionary.
Both the EFF and MK Party are calling for urgent action.
The EFF demands that Starlink comply fully with local BBBEE regulations, while the MK Party has called for:
- The immediate suspension of Regulation 17.8;
- Full disclosure of all stakeholders involved in drafting the regulation;
- A parliamentary review of its constitutionality and impact on economic transformation;
- And mass mobilisation to resist what it calls the “capture of South Africa’s digital infrastructure.”
