Elon Musk has written on his social media platform X to complain that his Starlink satellite internet service is “not allowed to operate in South Africa because I’m not black”. The controversial posting immediately drew strong criticism from X users, including Clayson Monyela, South Africa’s head of public diplomacy, who branded it as “not true” and “nothing to do with your skin colour”.

South Africa has a policy of demanding that incoming investors and businesses must allocate 30 per cent of the business to historically disadvantaged groups. Musk has made no secret of his interference in the politics of countries around the world, much to the chagrin of local politicians.

Monyela hit back at Musk in a post on X. “Starlink is welcome to operate in South Africa provided there’s compliance with local laws. This is a global international trade and investment principle. There are over 600 US companies investing and operating in South Africa, all complying and thriving. Microsoft just announced additional investments yesterday.”

Musk has been seeking a licence to operate the Starlink low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband service in South Africa but has baulked at the aforementioned requirement that telecommunications licensees allocate 30 per cent of their equity.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: elon musk, south africa, starlink