Is SA next? Elon Musk celebrates Starlink launch in Lesotho

Elon Musk has announced that Starlink is now officially operating in Lesotho, a landlocked country in southern Africa.

The world’s richest man, who was born in Pretoria, also criticised what he described as “racist laws” that, in his view, have blocked Starlink from securing an operating licence in South Africa.

In March, US President Donald Trump controversially claimed that “nobody has heard of” Lesotho. The following month, he imposed a 50% tariff on imports from the region—the highest rate applied to any country.

ELON MUSK MARKS STARLINK’S OPERATION IN LESOTHO

Elon Musk announced on his X account that Starlink had reached a new milestone by beginning operations in Lesotho.

Soon after President Trump imposed steep tariffs on the small nation, Lesotho granted Musk’s parent company, SpaceX, a 10-year operating licence for Starlink.

This decision, reportedly under review, posed a challenge to the country’s foreign investment policy.

Similar to South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment laws, Lesotho’s Section 2 body, which functions like ICASA, required SpaceX to allocate 30% of Starlink’s equity in the country to the Basotho people as a condition for the licence.

In April, the organisation said in a statement: “While Section 2 recognises the potential benefits of expanded internet access, we respectfully oppose the issuance of this license to Starlink due to the complete absence of local ownership in the company.”

On the X platform, some social media users claimed that the country had been “pressured” into “bending the rules” for Elon Musk.

Others bemoaned the fact that other countries were launching Starlink, while South Africa seemingly lagged.

WILL INTERNET SATELLITE SERVICE COME TO SOUTH AFRICA?

Recent reports suggest that Elon Musk may have a way to secure an operating licence for Starlink in South Africa by allegedly “side-stepping” Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements.

Musk previously criticised the law—which requires his company to allocate a 30% local shareholding—as a “racist law,” arguing that he didn’t qualify because he is “not black.”

Last month, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi gazetted a policy direction for his department on “alternatives” such as equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs).

Without directly naming Starlink, the minister stated that the policy would “attract investment,” particularly in the area of operating licences.

He explained that the 30% BEE local shareholding requirement for foreign investments limited companies from supporting transformation goals in ways beyond traditional ownership.

As a result, Malatsi announced that the EEIP policy direction would give qualifying multinationals the option to work with the department through alternative methods instead of local ownership.p.

This included investments in :

• Local suppliers
• Enterprise and skills development
• Job creation
• Infrastructure support
• Research and innovation,
• Digital inclusion initiatives, 
• and funding for SMMEs.