‘Why do you like racist laws?': Elon Musk goes on an anti-South Africa tirade at Qatar Economic Forum

As President Cyril Ramaphosa tours the United States in an intensified effort to reset the damaged bilateral relationship with the United States, billionaire Elon Musk has sharply criticised South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) legislation as "racist".

The South Africa-born, US based CEO of Tesla and Starlink participated virtually at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, where he told the gathering that his tech company is denied permission to operate in South Africa because of “racist laws”.

The host, Bloomberg’s Mishal Husain asked Musk at the Qatar Economic Forum whether he recognised the potential of a conflict of interest over his close access to the White House, while negotiating for his company to enter the South African market which is reportedly on the agenda as Ramaphosa meets Trump.

“Do you recognize that as a conflict of interest?” Husain asked Musk, citing Bloomberg reports that South Africa was making concessions that would allow Starlink to operate.

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Musk responded: “No. Of course not”. 

The billionaire then confronted Husain: “First of all, you should be questioning why there are racist laws in South Africa. That is the first problem, that is what you should be attacking. This should not be a problem if there were no racist laws in South Africa”.

Musk went on: “The whole idea with Nelson Mandela, he was a great man and he proposed that all races should be on equal footing in South Africa. That is the right thing to do, not to replace one set of racist laws with another set of racist laws, which is absolutely wrong and improper. So that’s the deal, and there should be no preference given to one or the other”.

Musk added that there are now 140 laws in South Africa that give “strong preference” to black South Africans.

“I am in a sad situation where I was born in South Africa but cannot get a licence to operate Starlink because I am not black. Does that seem right to you? Please answer. Why do you like racist laws?” said Musk.

The host kept saying the question was not for her to answer.

In March, IOL reported that the controversial South Africa-born billionaire businessman, Musk’s Starlink had not applied for a licence to operate in South Africa, despite claiming that broad-based black economic empowerment laws are preventing his company from setting up.

At the time, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) had indicated that Starlink had not yet applied for a licence.

In South Africa, Starlink is listed at “service date is unknown” while it is starting in 2025 in Lesotho, Namibia, Tanzania, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its services are available in eSwatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Burundi, among other African countries.

Earlier, IOL reported that authorities in Washington continue to peddle the narrative of persecution of white people in South Africa.

Rubio, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, clashed with Tim Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia. The senator put it to Rubio that the group of Afrikaners who landed in the US as refugees were prioritised because they are white.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL News