Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and owner of X, has criticised the South African government, alleging that Starlink is being denied an operating licence because of his race.
In a series of posts on X, Musk pointed to regulatory challenges linked to South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment policies, which require telecom companies to have at least 30 per cent ownership by historically disadvantaged groups.
He wrote, “South Africa won’t allow Starlink to be licensed, even though I was born there, simply because I am not black!
“We were offered many times the opportunity to bribe our way to a license by pretending that a black guy runs Starlink SA, but I have refused to do so on principle.
“Racism should not be rewarded no matter to which race it is applied. Shame on the racist politicians in South Africa.
“They should be shown no respect whatsoever anywhere in the world and shunned for being unashamedly racists!”
The disagreement revolves around licensing conditions enforced by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. Starlink has yet to obtain approval and argues that existing rules do not fully accommodate alternative investment models such as Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes, which focus on development projects instead of ownership transfer.
South African officials have rejected Musk’s claims, maintaining that several foreign companies are successfully operating in the country under the same regulations. They also stated that Starlink has not submitted a complete application that meets the legal requirements.
Responding earlier to similar allegations, the country’s Head of Public Diplomacy, Clayson Monyela, said:
“Sir, that’s not true and you know it! It’s got nothing to do with your skin colour. 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 USA companies investing and operating in #SouthAfrica…all complying and thriving! @Microsoft just announced additional investments yesterday,”
He later reacted again with a humorous post referencing the situation.
