SA Slams Elon Musk for Tweet Criticising SA Policy: “You Want To Eat Starlink Money”

• Billionaire Elon Musk contributed to the bate raging around the Expropriation Act debate
• He responded to President Cyril Ramaphosa's tweet clarifying that the Expropriation Act does not arbitrarily expropriate land
• He accused South Africa of having racist laws and South Africans called him to task for his statement

Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, provided local and international political analysis and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his nine years of experience.

JOHANNESBURG — Billionaire Elon Musk came under fire after saying South Africa has racist policies. He spoke in the wake of US President Donald Trump's announcement that the US government will cut all aid to South Africa because of alleged human rights violations.

Elon Musk and SA laws

Musk shared President Cyril Ramaphosa's tweet on his @elonmusk X account which he clarified that the South African government has not expropriated or confiscated any land after it passed the Expropriation Act. Ramaphosa also clarified that the United States only contributed 17% of South Africa's HIV/Aids programmes. In response, Musk asked Ramaphosa why the country has racist ownership laws.

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SA hotly debates Cyril Ramaphosa's response to Donald Trump's announcement to cut aid

Musk's Starlink was recently prevented from setting up shop in South Africa after the company did not want to comply with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment requirement that 30% of its operations be owned by black-owned enterprises.

View the X tweet here:

What you need to know about the Expropriation Act

• President Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act which empowers the state to expropriate land without compensation if the state does not reach an agreement with the land owner
• The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson said he would not implement the nil compensation section of the Act
• Opposition parties including the MK Party and the Democratic Alliance opposed the law in its current form

What did South Africans say?

Netizens were upset with Musk's interpretation of South African laws.

Julius Oaganga said:

"We don't want Starlink."

Kevin O' Pablito said:

Read also

South African Chamber of Commerce in USA worried about Donald Trump's statements of cutting aid

"Elon, please stop. For someone who claims they are smart, I wouldn't expect you to make such big claims without trading through the expropriation bill. Go read it, then come back here with facts."

Ofentse Mwase said:

"You want to eat Starlink money alone. That's where the problem is."

Ntokozo Masuku said:

"Elon, South Africa's laws are not racist. They're about correcting centuries of injustice caused by actual racism and apartheid."

Benzito said:

"I told you, Elon has beef with Ramza."

Gwede Mantashe hits back at Trump

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the Minister of Minerals Gwede Mantashe responded to Trump's announcement that he will cut all aid to South Africa. Trump accused the South African government of gross human rights violations.

Mantashe said that if Trump wants to cut aid to South Africa, the country will respond by withdrawing its minerals from the United States of America. South Africans called him out, and some accused him of making careless statements.

Source: Briefly News