South Africa is courting investment from Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, the presidency said on Wednesday, after he accused the government of his birth country of racist laws.
President Cyril Ramaphosa had spoken with Musk “with the intention to see him invest more in South Africa,” his spokesman told reporters.
Ramaphosa had particular interest around Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink, which provides web access to remote locations, said his spokesman Vincent Magwenya.
Licencing of the network, which is currently in 17 African countries, has been delayed by South Africa’s black empowerment regulations, which aim to mitigate the legacy of racial inequality left by apartheid.
Musk and Ramaphosa met in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and also spoke by telephone on Tuesday, the presidency said.
The conversation this week followed accusations by Musk on his social media platform X that Ramaphosa’s government had “openly racist ownership laws”.
US President Donald Trump, who is advised by Musk, also threatened to cut funding to South Africa on assertions that the country was “confiscating” land via an expropriation act.
The newly signed act says the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it deems necessary to seize in the public interest, but only after attempts to reach an agreement on compensation with the owner.
Ramaphosa had flagged in the conversation with Musk the “disinformation that we saw in the announcement by President Trump” and also his own accusation of racism, Magwenya said.
“South Africa does not have racist ownership laws,” he said.
Musk, who left South Africa in the late 1980s when he was aged 17, may have been referring to the Black Economic Empowerment policy.
This says that major companies — including foreign investors — must provide 30 percent equity to historically disadvantaged groups to address racial inequalities created during decades of white-minority rule.
South Africa’s telecoms regulator is holding a public hearing this month on regulations for potential operators that are expected to influence efforts to bring Starlink into the country.
