John Steenhuisen has made serious allegations about attempts to arrange meetings between government officials and private companies, including US satellite internet provider Starlink.
According to MyBroadband, Steenhuisen claimed former DA leader Tony Leon’s public relations firm, Resolve Communications, used its connections to set up meetings between ministers and clients.
Steenhuisen reportedly said this included attempts to arrange meetings between Communications Minister Solly Malatsi and Starlink.
He described the situation as inappropriate, saying Malatsi was dealing with the Starlink matter within government.
Claims Linked to Lobbying
Steenhuisen made the claims during an interview with News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson.
He alleged that Resolve Communications regularly approached him as a minister to meet with clients who wanted help with issues, problems or possible policy changes.
Steenhuisen also claimed the firm tried to arrange meetings with other ministers, including Malatsi, former environment minister Dion George and current Minister Willie Aucamp.
He said he believed the meetings amounted to private-sector lobbying.
However, he also reportedly acknowledged that lobbying itself is not illegal.
His concern, according to the report, was that the firm may have been using its proximity to the DA to arrange access to government officials.
Starlink Issue Still Unresolved
Starlink has been a major talking point in South Africa because of licensing rules in the telecoms sector.
Malatsi has previously pushed for policy changes that would allow equity-equivalent investment programmes as an alternative to the current 30% ownership requirement by historically disadvantaged groups for telecoms licences.
However, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa reportedly rejected Malatsi’s policy direction in May, saying it would not consider changing the regulations until the Electronic Communications Act was amended.
Steenhuisen also said he met with a Starlink delegation, but claimed the meeting became a complaint session about Malatsi not moving fast enough.
Resolve Rejects the Claims
Resolve Communications has rejected Steenhuisen’s comments.
In a statement on 29 June, the firm said its work was lawful, proper and necessary in a functioning democracy.
It said it helps clients engage with the relevant parts of government and advocate on public policy issues.
Resolve also denied that Tony Leon was improperly using his experience or knowledge of government.
The company said facilitating stakeholder engagement on policy matters was not a conflict of interest.
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