Low-Earth orbit satellites are used to deliver broadband connectivity to communities worldwide.
Low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services form part of South Africa’s digital and connectivity future, communications minister Solly Malatsi told MPs yesterday.
This, as connectivity gaps in the country continue to linger, with millions of South African households still without reliable and meaningful internet access.
“Rather than wait a decade to develop domestic LEO capacity, we must create conditions for international operators to serve our people now, in a manner that supports national interests and regulatory compliance,” said Malatsi.
“Our responsibility is to ensure new technologies expand inclusion rather than deepen inequality.”
The minister’s comments come as Elon Musk’s LEO service Starlink remains sidelined for failing to comply with the local ownership and empowerment requirements. The South African-born billionairehas lobbied for equity equivalent investment programmes (EEIPs) as an alternative.
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Malatsi in December gazetted his final policy directive recognising EEIPs, directing the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to use these as an alternative to the Electronic Communications Act’s requirement that telecoms network service providers be 30% owned by historically-disadvantaged groups before they can get a licence.
In January, Starlink rival Amazon Leo said it plans tolaunch its LEO service in South Africa later this year, through local licensed partners. There have also been expressions of interest from other players looking to enter South Africa.
While delivering the department’s budget vote, Malatsi noted that the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies’ (DCDT’s) mandate is an ecosystem enabler.
“Our role is not to build every tower, lay every fibre line, regulate every transaction, or deliver every digital service. It is to create the enabling environment for the growth of the digital economy, through policy, legislation and coordination of government and sector efforts, so that we all work towards a common goal.
“We cannot approach this role from a perspective of control, but from a perspective of unlocking the potential of being online, while protecting the vulnerable from abuse and exclusion.”
Solly Malatsi, communications and digital technologies minister.
Malatsi’s DCDT and other state departments are tabling their budget votes for the 2026/2027 financial year, detailing departmental performance and spending priorities.
The minister reflected on pockets of progress by his department over the past year, including removing the “luxury tax” on entry-level smartphones, the long-awaited appointment of the State IT Agency (SITA) board and the launch of eight cyber labs.
Despite steady progress towards operating at the required standard, he conceded that challenges remain for the department.
“The long-standing issue of the analogue switch-off and digital migration remains unresolved for now,” he said. “We have teams across the country working on installations to ensure registered households maintain access to broadcasting services, and engagements with the broadcasters on our next steps will continue.
“Over the past year, we initiated several investigations into USSASA, NEMISA, .ZADNA and SITA to restore good governance practices, uphold accountability and enforce robust oversight.
“To continue with the GNU’s [Government of National Unity’s] efforts to build an ethical and capable state, we will be introducing measures to conduct lifestyle audits for the executive and board leadership across our entities and within the department.
“Despite seeing dividends from governance reforms implemented in the last financial year, several of our entities continue to be in a battle for survival.”
On finances, the minister said the department’s expenditure allocation for the 2026/2027 financial year is R2.549 billion. Of that, R1.749 billion is transferred to portfolio entities.
ICASA receives R505 million, the Film and Publications Board gets allocated R112 million, and the South African Post Office receives R595 million, which is allocated to the universal postal obligation. Public broadcaster the SABC receives R234 million.
“The budgetary constraints within our portfolio are clear and have a serious impact on the department and portfolio entities’ ability to deliver on our joint mandate. However, we are not the only portfolio that is in this position.
“Fiscal constraints are the reality that we must deal with. We can no longer hide behind the lack of funds to explain why we fall short of what is expected of us. Rather, we will be thinking differently about how we use what we do have available to us to fulfil our mandate as best as we can.”
