You can abuse workers but don’t you dare use Starlink, prosecution of Chinese company for using it shows

Leonard Sengere Avatar

Leonard Sengere

Starlink terminal

You know the govt is serious about something when even the Chinese have to play by the same rules. We all know too well that Chinese interests can get away with almost anything but apparently the govt draws the line at Starlink usage.

I am reminded of the time Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union (ZDAMWU) appealed to the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe to intervene and ensure Chinese investors comply with the laws of the country.

The Chinese govt has funded so many projects in the country that Chinese companies can get away with verbally and physically abusing Zimbabwean workers. The Zimbabwean govt does not want to ‘step on toes’ and the solution is to plead with the Chinese govt to control its companies.

The Zimbabwean govt will tolerate most nonsense but it cannot, it will not tolerate the use of Starlink within these borders.

A Chinese mining company (SAN HE) was sentenced to pay a fine of $700 by a Guruve Magistrate for using Starlink equipment. The Starlink kit was confiscated and is probably in use at a senior policeman’s house as we speak.

The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe was kind enough to tell us which law the Chinese company broke. SAN HE contravened the Postal and Telecommunications Act by “willfully possessing and or operating a radio station without a license or authorization from the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).”

The story gets crazier. Potraz is the one that snitched on SAN HE to the police.

On the 5th of December 2023, the Police received a report from POTRAZ to the effect that the company was using Star-Link equipment.

The Police proceeded to the mine where they recovered the Starlink router and antenna.

How did Potraz find out and why did they feel compelled to snitch? I know it’s their job but I’m still curious to know the true motivations of the individuals involved.

Potraz’s blessing

Then there is the matter of authorisation. You can legally use Starlink in Zimbabwe if you get the proper permission, presumably even while it remains illegal for the general public.

That’s what the law says, you need either a licence or authorisation. Which would mean the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) has authority from Potraz to use Starlink.

We have seen ZBC using what looks like Starlink and Potraz did not rush to the police to tell on them. Which means they approve of the mischief, rendering it non-mischief. Or maybe it’s not a Starlink kit, but if it is…

The question then becomes, why them and not us? What’s so special about ZBC that they get to enjoy the forbidden fruit whilst some of us are kicked out of the garden? Food for thought.

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30 comments

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  1. King

    Reporter you misinformed, that ZBC uplink is no starlink at all.

    It’s a normal ku band unlink from ND satcoms and receives any signal from any satellite operator.

    That thing has been around for over a decade now

    Reply
    1. TruthChaser

      That thing is clearly a Starlink antenna.

      Reply
    2. Friends with Boundaries

      I gave up a lot of megabytes in search and reverse image search to give this a fair shot, but yah, that’s a Starlink dish, 100%.

      Reply
  2. King

    Reporter you misinformed, that ZBC uplink is no starlink at all.

    It’s a normal ku band uplink from ND satcoms and receives any signal from any satellite operator.

    That thing has been around for over a decade now

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      That’s starlink Boss a simple google search will conclude this issue

      Reply
    2. Anonymous

      The law in Zim depends on who you are. As for the concerned case of Guruve… it might be that havana kubuda bag💰…

      Reply
  3. Friends with Boundaries

    In all my now 42 years stewing in this teapot, I’ve only ever seen a Chinese citizen get confronted by the cops once. The guy parked his pickup right on top of the sidewalk across the road from Meikles. When the cop who was just walking by saw it and tried to get him to move, the Chinese guy kept moving and ignored him until it almost got physical 😂 The tenacity of that officer! He must have felt personally offended or something!

    As for this case, I suppose it might be similar in that authorities felt looked down upon and needed to remind their friends not to be too blatant in enjoying their privileged status.

    Reply
  4. Roberto Vasquez

    I don’t speak Shona zvangu but Government yedu mahwan kna usiri elite unomamà nenhamo

    Reply
  5. Mika

    If we were all equally at law ZBC would have been arrested too but in Zimbabwe there no equality at law .Some people especially those who hobnob with Vene transgrres the law with impunity.There is too much corruption and Mnangagwa appears to be blind and deaf to some of things members of his party do .

    Reply
  6. Captain Jack Sparrow

    Mr Sengere has an over obsession with Starlink for what reason I don’t know why? Starlink is for the rich folks even if it’s licensed where will the general poor Zimbos get the money to afford the kit when they can’t afford the Tel1 router that cost 120USD so that they can take advantage of the LTE blaze line which is apparently cheaper than most licensed ISP… The Starlink Wars directed by Leonard Sengere are now becoming a bore( to me that is kkkk)..

    Reply
    1. Zimbo

      If Starlink isn’t news, then I am a ruddy Japanese.

      Reply
    2. Anonymous

      Then why did you read the article

      Reply
    3. Best out there

      I think he has every right to talk about it, it’s trending world over right now . it’s affordable in terms of subscription (plus it’s unlimited internet that has reliable signal and network coverage across every inch of the country) . As for the kit being expensive don’t like that, to assume that Zimbos are that poor not to be able to afford it, they actually can .Just look at all the ex jap cars that people are buying in Zim (that’s just one of the many things that people are buying that is more expensive than the kit)

      As for telone ,the service is not that reliable in every area, and it’s not available country wide. If starlink is allowed to come here ,you will appreciate that it’s not expensive at all, just by the number of people who would own the kits and service

      Reply
    4. Best out there

      I think he has every right to talk about it, it’s trending world over right now . it’s affordable in terms of subscription (plus it’s unlimited internet that has reliable signal and network coverage across every inch of the country) . As for the kit being expensive ,don’t be like that, to assume that Zimbos are that poor not to be able to afford it, they actually can .Just look at all the ex jap cars that people are buying in Zim (that’s just one of the many things that people are buying that is more expensive than the kit)

      As for telone ,the service is not that reliable in every area, and it’s not available country wide. If starlink is allowed to come here ,you will appreciate that it’s not expensive at all, just by the number of people who would own the kits and service

      Reply
      1. Captain Jack Sparrow

        @Anonymous My guy ex Japs are just useless overvalued cars for the stupid and greedy..in my normal sense I would never buy a car from B4ward …a jaguar least expensive model cost round 20K …

        Reply
        1. Best out there

          Well that’s you. I was just trying to put across the point that ,(as an example) if you look at the number of people buying those cars and that they are from across the whole country ,it also means if starlink was to come to Zim all those people would probably be able to buy the starlink kits(that is to say they not that expensive at all.) they are way cheaper than the cars people are buying.

          as for telone ,People don’t buy that telone stuff mostly because the service is poor in some areas ,and in some it’s totally unavailable. and Not because they cannot afford it.

          Reply
        2. Best out there

          *by the the way I think those second hand cars they are fairly priced, considering how much brand new cars cost. for most brand new is really out of reach

          Reply
        3. HE.

          Would you buy a 2014 M4 from the UK 0-60 miles per hour in 4.5seconds, a poor man’s Ferrari? 😅

          Reply
  7. MAN

    We have a minister of ICT who is clueless just like all other ministers we have.I was of the view that she would scrape the policy of expiring recharged air time and data which turtumount to unfair practice.Why would ones data and airtime expireif one has a credit balance in their account.May you guys could take it up with the minister or Tariffs and Competion commission.

    Reply
  8. Velicoraptor

    Suspect the MNOs have some people at potraz safeguarding their interests. The elites don’t want anyone messing with that sweet, sweet corporate tax.

    Reply
    1. Kobr∆ Kommander

      A simple ask of which MNOs actually pay their full licence fee on time will reveal all. Golden Goose. Kkkkk

      Reply
  9. Mabhena

    Let me defend the government this one time. I honestly don’t think this affordability thing will last. If you follow the history of most modern American companies you’ll discover that a lot of their business models involve spending huge amounts of money to run pre-existing competition out of business and when that’s done, they then start jacking up prices (or putting ads). Yes, we may dislike our ISPs but their customer base are the same people who are likely going to prefer Starlink. If Starlink swallows market share and then starts raising prices a few years from now, all we’ll be left with is Econet and its “4G”. Competition is great and all but they are times when competition isn’t really competition.

    Reply
    1. Userr

      Mmmmm I disagree. Prices are already crazy right now ,they could never get as crazy as now even if they starlink decide to raise prices . The ISPs in Zim are simply ripping people off fullstop

      Reply
    2. Mojo Jojo

      Starlink was never mass market. The full price for subs is a testament to that. However, they will benefit us all by pressuring these lazy ISP’s to sing for their supper instead of just opening their mouths. They would have to offer better deals to the top end and improve the low end offerings to make up for losses at the high end.

      I say LET THEM FIGHT!

      Reply
      1. Kobr∆ Kommander

        Get a Starlink Dish close to a tower in High density areas. Offer 1.5 to 2.5Mbps unlimited per month using carrier grade 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz aggregated Radios from Miro in RSA. The rest is history. Someone is scared. Kkkkk

        #DataMustFall #ThisFall

        Reply
  10. Mako

    Hapana argument even he Sengere knows it. There was a time he wrote articles about Netflix similar to these of Starlink. But now he has an article which actually says they are far behind Showmax.

    Now the Starlink issue is just Musks hype like all his projects. Even in the USA of A they are not talking much about it because of the already dominance of ISPs plus how can you be sure with a guy who runs a tech company called Tesla that promised a car 4 years ago (Cyber Truck) not yet delivered but Rolls royce motor cars have a fully electric vehicle. How is that even possible.

    You are better of buying a buggati chiron than u will be able to have a Tesla.

    Now for starlink it’s just going to be the situation like what happens with Multichoice Decoders. How many people have the latest decoder and actually pay the PVR options or box office.

    People in zimbabwe send kids to school and not pay for unlimited internet yet the kid has that privilege they pay for pa fees and levies.

    I’m still of the view that in Africa for now its to early for them but Starlink partnering with MNOs is the only ideal solution with their direct to mobile offering slated for 2025.

    Reply
    1. Mojo Jojo

      Starlink isn’t hype. Its a real, fast maturing service that has had a consistent mission statement to bring connectivity to underserved areas. If you watched its development and rollout in the US, you will know those areas are where it thrives. That niche by its very nature means they cannot ‘dominate’, for now. The conversation of dominance is only relevant in places like Zim where the aggregate quality of connectivity is so subpar and expensive. As for bringing Cybertruck into the conversation, you are creating false equivalencies. SpaceX (Starlink) and Tesla are different entities. And don’t pretend you don’t know what went down in the world during those 4 years. Given the circumstances, they did great to create a whole new platform and standards where they had to create almost the entire supply chain because most of it didn’t exist.

      The only way Starlink ends up collecting dust in homes is if people find better value elsewhere. That’ll mean competition worked as intended and as a consumer, I struggle to see why you’d be against that. Sure, those that weren’t paying roughly the same to other ISP’s won’t find much to like apart for the speed and zero caps, but those already in that price band have shown they want more by travelling or going to the grey market for marked up units already.

      If you are in the right income bracket, Africa is more than ready. And forcing legacy ISPs to compete at the high-end and sweeten the pot for low-end, high volume clients is just another bonus.

      Reply
      1. Userr

        True ,true! Tell em Mojo ,tell em

        Reply
    2. Kobr∆ Kommander

      X, SpaceX, OpenAI, PayPal, Tesla a 200million USD USAF contract to boot, and Musk is hyped. It’s the same as our government ministers and their cronies calling out citizens poor when their are the ones responsible for making the country poor.

      My only conclusion to such behaviour is Witchcraft.

      #Theydontlikenicethings
      #Inthehandsofeveryone

      They want all the money, all the whiskey, all the girls, all the fame (TV,radio,Newspaper), all the notoriety,all the cars, all the Internet and all the slaves. That’s you and me by the way. 21st century slave masters masquerading as Revolutionaries. Wine and dine with those they chastise daily.

      Real life game of thrones and it’s happening in Zimbabwe.

      Well they thought they could get away with it forever, but we are waaay more than them.

      #SpaceX Dem
      #Drone Dem

      Reply
  11. Hugh Jarse

    If you have to apply to use starlink, it means you have to PAY, probably extortionate amounts as well, but that’s zpf for you, the lot you citizens in Zimbabwe have done sod-all, to get rid of, since at least 1985! This, and other problems can only be described as “self-inflicted harm”. You’re getting more of the destruction, and restrictions on free speech, which you’ve stupidly allowed to happen! When will you lot see sense, and do something, indeed ANYTHING, to give change a chance, and regain some of your rights, and a chance for Zimbabwe to recover?

    Reply

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