More than 5 000 rural South African schools are still waiting for free internet access that SpaceX offered over a year ago. The offer, made through Starlink, the company’s internet service provider, would have connected nearly half of the country’s rural classrooms. The condition was simple: Starlink needed access to the local market.
That access never came. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) both rejected the offer and have held their position since. The bottleneck is a licensing rule requiring at least 30% of the licence-holder to be owned by black people, a category that can legally include youths and people with disabilities, among others. Government has shown no appetite to waive it.
SpaceX did try to work inside the framework. In June 2025 the company wrote to Parks Tau, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, proposing an Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP) in South Africa. The letter noted that such programmes already run across sectors here, and that Microsoft and Amazon already use EEIPs to meet local ownership obligations. The proposal changed nothing. Meanwhile, American diplomats’ attempts to broker an agreement have also been ignored.
AfriForum has now entered the debate, arguing that government is putting race policy above the interests of ordinary people. The civil rights organisation says the state must drop what it calls an obsession with race, prioritise schoolchildren, and accept the offer. Louis Boshoff, AfriForum’s spokesperson, contends that the ANC-led government is so fixated on race that it decides against residents’ interests, driven by an ideological grudge against a particular white businessman. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, is known for condemning the government’s race obsession and for refusing to comply with racially discriminatory requirements to gain market access.
“Providing free internet access to rural schools would benefit predominantly poor, black children. In contrast, a 30% black ownership stake in Starlink would benefit only a small group of businesspeople. It is therefore clear that the government prioritises the interests of the elite over those of the poorest segments of society,” Boshoff said. “The ANC-led government is infatuated with black ‘tenderpreneurs,’ shows no concern for rural schoolchildren, and harbours a hatred for principled businesspeople who believe in non-racialism. That is the sole factor that drove their decision, not common sense or moral values.”
AfriForum’s argument, and the government’s rejection of the proposal, are set out in the organisation’s statement at https://www.artikels.afriforum.co.za/en/government-chooses-race-policy-over-the-interests-of-ordinary-people-says-afriforum-following-rejection-of-starlink-proposal/.
The organisation also frames the stalled licence as a delivery problem with consequences beyond the classroom. AfriForum warns that ideologically driven decisions of this kind jeopardise tariff-free trade with the US, and argues that granting Starlink its licence should be treated as part of resolving the diplomatic crisis between the two countries. According to Boshoff, denying Starlink access is one element of that wider breakdown. “The US government’s proposals offer mutual benefits for both South Africa and the US. Yet, the ANC rejects them purely on ideological grounds,” he concluded.
Whether the 5 000 classrooms ever get connected may now depend on whether the licensing rule, the EEIP route, or diplomacy breaks the deadlock first.