By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi confirmed engagements with international Information and Communications Technology (ICT) firms, including satellite internet provider Starlink.
Malatsi’s response was issued after the Paliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies demanded a detailed explanation regarding lobbying allegations made by Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister John Steenhuisen.
Steenhuisen revealed that Resolve Communications owned by former DA leader Tony Leon used its proximity to senior DA leaders to facilitate meetings between DA ministers and its private sector clients, including Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Steenhuisen mentioned himself, Malatsi, former minister Dion George, and Minister Willie Aucamp as the DA ministers asked by Resolve Communications to meet with their clients, such as Starlink and Redisa.
Committee chair Khusela Diko said Steenhuisen’s untested allegations were of a serious nature because they raised questions regarding the propriety of engagements between public office bearers and private interests in matters that may relate to policy development, regulatory processes, and executive decision-making.
“At face value, these allegations invoke concerning historical precedents in our country, where private interests sought to direct government policy and executive decisions during the State Capture era,” she said.
Diko said it was important for the portfolio committee, in the execution of its constitutional oversight mandate, to satisfy itself that all engagements involving Malatsi were conducted in accordance with the constitutional principles of transparency, accountability, and good governance.
In a letter dated 05 July 2026, responding to Parliament, Malatsi stated that Resolve Communications contacted his office for two unrelated matters. He strictly denied that the firm facilitated his meetings with Starlink, dismissing claims that his policy directives were unduly influenced.
Read the Letter here: Portfolio Committee Chair.Setting the record straight.
Leon has since dismissed claims that his public affairs firm wielded improper political influence inside the Government of National Unity (GNU), saying the allegations were politically motivated and unsupported by evidence.
He has claimed that Resolve Communications was “a convenient external explanation for difficulties that are, in truth, internal and political” within the DA, following the shifting of Steenhuisen as Agriculture minister to become a deputy minister for Trade, Industry and Competition.
Leon said, while he did not personally request any meetings between Malatsi and Starlink, he did not know whether another member of his team had.
He maintained that if a member of his team had reached out, it would have been entirely legitimate, ethical, and appropriate.
In a statement issued on a Resolve Communications letterhead last week, Leon said that his company has acted lawfully, transparently and in accordance with professional standards.
“In recent days, Resolve Communications has been the subject of a series of allegations advanced by political figures and amplified by political parties,” he stated. We do not, and we cannot, direct the decisions of ministers or officials. We have never sought to.”
He said that where a meeting was requested on a client’s behalf, and the request was denied, Resolve Communications respected the decision without any complaint.