American billionaire Elon Musk offered free internet to 2.4 million South African students

American billionaire Elon Musk offered to give South African schools free Starlink satellite internet and pay for it indefinitely, but walked away when the government insisted on 30% local ownership of the business, the US ambassador to South Africa said.

Leo Brent Bozell III, who took up the post in Pretoria early this year, described the country's ownership rules as "preposterously silly" in an interview published last week. "What he offered was to put Starlink for free in 500 schools and pay for it in perpetuity," Bozell said. "Not a bad deal to make."

"But he said, 'I'm not going to give you my company,'" Bozell said, recounting Musk's response to the ownership demand. "He said, 'Go pound sand. I'll go in every other country on planet Earth.'" Bozell said he had not spoken to Musk directly about the matter.

The schools offer

The offer Bozell described is a smaller version of the one Starlink actually put to Pretoria. In a letter dated June 14, 2025, to Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau, Starlink executive Ryan Goodnight proposed fully funded satellite kits and internet service for more than 5,000 rural schools, reaching about 2.4 million pupils. Starlink valued the package, which also covered solar power, devices and software, at about R500 million ($30 million).

The schools project was part of Starlink's proposal to meet South Africa's empowerment rules through an equity equivalent investment programme, which lets a multinational earn ownership credits by spending on skills, training and local businesses instead of selling shares. Starlink said in the letter that it had "never sought an exemption" from the country's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment laws, and pointed to similar arrangements used by Microsoft, IBM and Amazon in other industries. The company said it would apply for licences once such a route was approved.

Under the Electronic Communications Act, holders of individual network licences must be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups. The shares go to those groups, not to the state. SpaceX, which owns Starlink, does not sell local stakes in its operations in any market.

Licensing stalemate

Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi issued a policy direction late last year asking the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, the telecoms regulator, to recognise equity equivalent programmes in the sector. On May 13, the regulator said it could not apply the direction unless Parliament first amends the act. Malatsi has said he will pursue the amendments and that he is "not changing the rules nor instructing Icasa to give any individual company a licence."

Starlink still has no licence in South Africa, and the regulator has said it has not received an application. The service operates in neighbouring countries and in other African markets, including Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique and Rwanda.

Musk, the world's richest person and chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, has repeatedly attacked the empowerment rules. In April, he wrote on X that Starlink was blocked in South Africa "simply because I am not Black," and said officials had proposed that the company register a Black South African as a nominal operator to get a licence, which he refused.

The government rejected the claim. Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said more than 600 American companies operate in South Africa under the same laws. Vincent Magwenya, spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, called Musk's statements "repeated lies" and wrote that there was "good money to be made out of 192 markets. It's okay to move on!"

Bozell's comments add to friction between Pretoria and Washington. The Trump administration has asked South Africa to exempt American companies from empowerment rules, among other demands. The international relations department summoned Bozell on Sept. 29 over a series of media statements, the second such reprimand since he arrived. He was first summoned in March over his comments on the "Kill the Boer" protest song.