Through this directive, government aims to create a coherent empowerment framework that expands investment opportunities, supports digital infrastructure development, and strengthens South Africa’s broader goals of economic inclusion and digital sovereignty.
South Africa has moved to resolve long-standing inconsistencies in ICT ownership regulations after the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies , Solly Malatsi, gazetted a final policy direction requiring the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA ) to fully align its licensing and ownership framework with the national ICT Sector Code.
The directive, issued on 12 December 2025, follows a draft published in May and an extensive public participation process that generated more than 19 000 submissions, including over 15 000 substantive comments. According to the Department, 90 percent of respondents backed the policy direction, noting its potential to unlock investment, accelerate broadband rollout, and clarify regulatory expectations for the sector.
Malatsi explained that years of misalignment between ICASA’s Ownership Regulations and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) ICT Sector Code have discouraged both local and foreign investors. While the ICT Sector Code recognises several empowerment avenues—such as Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs), skills development, management control, and procurement—ICASA’s current framework applies only selected provisions. Government argues that this partial application has created regulatory uncertainty and slowed transformation efforts.
The final policy direction seeks to correct this by instructing ICASA to amend its regulations so that all forms of recognised empowerment, including EEIPs, are consistently applied across the sector. Mobile network operators, through the Association of Communications and Technology (ACT), also requested that EEIP-qualifying licensees be held to the same obligations as others, including fee payments, Universal Service and Access Fund contributions, ICASA compliance requirements and universal service obligations. The Minister noted that all of these provisions fall squarely within ICASA’s mandate and should be enforced uniformly.
Supporters of the policy highlighted its potential to improve digital access, especially for rural and underserved communities that remain without reliable high-speed internet. The Department emphasised that the directive reinforces regulatory parity and does not bypass the Electronic Communications Act or weaken empowerment objectives. Any amendments ICASA makes to its regulations will apply equally to all licensees, in line with both the ECA and the ICT Sector Code.
“The purpose of this policy direction is to ensure that the full scope of economic empowerment is properly recognised and applied in the ICT sector. This alignment will help attract more investment, support meaningful transformation, and improve the lives of South Africans, especially those in rural and underserved communities who still lack access to high-speed internet. The policy direction also corrects inconsistencies created when ICASA adopted and amended its Limitation on Control and Ownership Regulations in 2021 and 2022. These regulations referenced the BBBEE Act and the ICT Sector Code but only applied selected provisions, resulting in regulatory misalignment.”
-Hon. Solly Malatsi, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, South Africa
A minority of submissions raised concerns about the risk of market dominance by larger or foreign operators, but the government pointed to existing oversight roles for the Competition Commission, ICASA, and the Information Regulator in safeguarding competition and market fairness.
Malatsi also committed to working with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to strengthen monitoring and transparency of EEIP processes. The broader aim, he said, is to create a coherent empowerment framework that attracts new investment, strengthens South Africa’s digital infrastructure, and advances the country’s goals of economic inclusion and digital sovereignty.
With the policy direction now finalised, industry stakeholders are awaiting ICASA’s amendments, which are expected to shape the next phase of South Africa’s ICT sector transformation and broadband expansion.
