Former DA leader John Steenhuisen exposed a clique that pulls strings behind the scenes from within and without the party walls. In the face of apparent denials, it takes liberties with lobbying to assault transformation.
Communications and digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi is not even ashamed to feign innocence. This is despite Malatsi’s overt complicity in the clique’s machinations to scrap the 30% equity sale for B-BBEE ownership in favour of Starlink.
In fact, Malatsi is an enabler in the common ambition to circumvent the law. His policy directive sought to introduce a façade investment programme as an alternative to a working model of Equity Equivalents.
It was a plain manoeuvring for the exclusive benefit of Starlink, whose proprietor has no desire to comply with B-BBEE except to become a monopoly.
Not only is Malatsi blinded by privilege but his efforts were a fumble, especially in a sector where ownership by black people is completely unacceptable. However, it cannot be business as usual to the point of being susceptible to change policy on account of one player that overbearingly dictates terms of its investment.
The government should intervene and allocate capital for Telkom to venture into the satellite service space in a similar fashion it entered the mobile telephone market. – Morgan Phaahla, Ekurhuleni
