PRETORIA
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that Starlink did not come up during discussions in the White House with US President Donald Trump.
“Many people believe that we went to Washington to discuss Starlink. That is not so … notwithstanding the fact that Elon Musk was there as part of the US delegation,” Ramaphosa told journalists following his address at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa.
He said South Africa was familiar with the process of using low-orbit satellites to provide Wi-Fi and internet access.
The South African leader said there are several other companies, including Chinese, Russian and European companies as well as local companies interested in the field.
“People tend to focus on one company only, and yet, we’ve got a plethora of companies that would want to get into this space,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the environment to enable investment in that space must be “properly crafted, properly permitted.”
He said the process will draw significant public and stakeholder input, requiring broad discussion and support from both key players and ordinary citizens.
Last Wednesday, Ramaphosa met with Trump in the White House to discuss bilateral issues and trade amid heightened tensions over the US president’s controversial claims that white Afrikaner farmers are being persecuted and killed in South Africa.
Ramaphosa has denied the claims.
The visit came after the US welcomed the first group of white South African refugees as part of the Trump administration’s new resettlement initiative.
