Malatsi backs ICT growth, hints at Starlink launch
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi says investment in communication infrastructure is key to economic growth.
He spoke at an infrastructure symposium in Cape Town, days after he announced plans to relax the regulatory requirements for investing in the ICT sector.
On Friday, Malatsi said clear and consistent rules were needed, including aligning telecoms laws with B-BBEE ownership rules.
It's thought the moves aims to open the door for Elon Musk’s satellite company, Starlink, to operate in South Africa.
Malatsi on Monday reiterated plans to expand broadband infrastructure to rural areas.
" We want to be able to position South Africa as the hub for data centres, so that we can get South Africa as close to a hundred per cent connectivity as possible. And our efforts are geared towards private partnerships, collaborating with different spheres of government, making sure that we can get connectivity to South Africans."
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Cosatu said it will talk to officials in the departments of Communications and Digital Technologies, Trade, Industry, and Competition to seek assurance over the proposed policy shift.
The trade union federation's Matthew Parks says the entrenched levels of poverty and inequality mean B-BBEE remains a fundamental necessity for South Africa.
" While Cosatu supports the objectives of B-BBEE and is unapologetic in its defence of transformation. We believe a discussion needs to be had on ways to ensure B-BBEE reaches those who most need empowerment, namely workers and working-class communities, and not simply de-racialising the bourgeoisie.
"Worker’s empowerment in particular through employee shareholder ownership programs, as well as support for locally produced goods, is fundamental.”
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