MINISTER SUMMONED OVER 'FAVOURABLE' STARLINK LAWS

THE Starlink Wars have begun... This after the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies (PCCDT) summoned Communications Minister Solly Malatsi to explain a plan to bypass Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) for SA-born billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink internet service.

- BY MTHOBISI NOZULELA

Last week Malatsi issued new policy directives aimed at easing (B-BBEE) laws for licensing satellite services in a government gazette.

It came just days after Stellenbosch billionaire Johann Rupert said that "every little police station needs Starlink" during President Cyril Ramaphosa's White House meeting with US counterpart Donald Trump last Wednesday.