In July 2026, South Africa welcomed two new satellite internet services — Amazon's evry and the UAE-backed BrainSAT — while the world's leading provider, Starlink, remains locked out by a regulatory requirement that SpaceX refuses to meet. The country's communications regulator, ICASA, mandates 30% local black ownership for satellite operators, a condition that shaped which competitors entered the market and on what terms. What unfolds is a familiar tension in post-apartheid economic policy: the pursuit of equity in ownership, weighed against the practical question of who benefits most from fa