Musk's Starlink Could Sidestep South African Equity Rules Under Deal Aimed At Calming Relations Ahead Of Trump Meeting: Report

South Africa is likely to offer Elon Musk a regulatory workaround for Starlink to soften tensions ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa's meeting with President Donald Trump.

What Happened: A meeting was reportedly scheduled for Tuesday night between South African officials and Musk or his representatives, hoping to smooth relations before Ramaphosa visits the White House.

The proposal would be a workaround that allows Starlink to bypass traditional Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements by presenting it as infrastructure investments or rural connectivity projects instead of direct equity transfers, Bloomberg reports. This model has been used by major auto companies in 2019.

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Why It Matters:  The new development comes as Musk and Trump have promoted criticisms of South African policies. Musk was born in Pretoria and has publicly accused South Africa of having "openly racist ownership laws," alleging that he has not been allowed to launch Starlink in the country because he is not Black.

Trump has backed these claims, recently granting refugee status to White South Africans and promoting the narrative of a genocide, an allegation a local court dismissed as "clearly imagined and not real."

Notably, Musk's xAI’s Grok recently made headlines for responding to unrelated queries on X with racially charged commentary on South Africa, including repeating claims of "white genocide."

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are demanding a federal investigation into whether the Trump administration is aiding Musk’s company, SpaceX, to secure access to foreign markets, citing Starlink’s swift expansion into countries like Bangladesh and India, where permissions were granted soon after interactions with Musk or during larger U.S. trade negotiations.

They also referred to recent reports claiming that the U.S. has allegedly been coercing some countries hit by Trump’s tariffs to authorize Starlink’s services.

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