ELON MUSK STARLINK APPROVAL @KASIBC_NEWS

ELON MUSK STARLINK APPROVAL @KASIBC_NEWS 

 The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) firmly condemns the reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to offer regulatory assurances to Elon Musk’s Starlink ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump this week. 

This move is not only unconstitutional, but it also exposes Ramaphosa as willing to compromise on our sovereignty to massage the inflated ego of Elon Musk and Donald Trump. 

We must remind the public and the presidency that Cyril Ramaphosa has no executive authority to unilaterally guarantee access to South Africa’s telecommunications sector, let alone bypass necessary Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws. 

Any such commitments fall squarely within the legislative domain of Parliament, not Luthuli House or the President’s delegation. 

These powers are governed by national legislation and independent regulators, not the whims of one man desperate for foreign approval. The EFF is not surprised, however, as we noted this possibility when he embarked on this ill-advised trip, and we are concerned that this as part of a broader campaign by Ramaphosa to appease the Trump administration and white capital by potentially sacrificing key transformative laws like the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act, the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, and the Expropriation Act. 

The EFF warns: we will resist any such betrayal of the people’s mandate, including through legal action and mass mobilisation. We are not opposed to technology or global innovation, but we will not allow unregulated, foreign-controlled infrastructure to operate outside South Africa’s democratic and legislative framework. 

Starlink represents a threat to local industry and national security as it is owned by an individual who has peddled lies about a genocide in South Africa in an attempt to leverage preferential and unregulated access to our market. One wonders why Elon Musk is so desperate to setup operations in a country involved in a genocide, as any genuine humanitarian would recognise genocide as a disincentive for investment. 

We will oppose this Starlink deal in Parliament, in the courts, and in the streets if necessary. Our sovereignty is not for sale to billionaires, nor can it be bought with handshakes in backrooms.