Authored By: Rivaldo Beukes
University of Free State
Abstract
Elon Musk does not want to comply with the local laws of South Africa like any operating international business for his company Starlink, so he is spreading misinformation to a platform of over 600 million users, Twitter with the help of an apartheid organization Afri-Forum. Elon Musk says South Africa does not want to operate his network Starlink because he is not black. He stated on his X, formerly known as Twitter, that South Africa has more anti-white laws than it had under the apartheid regime, when in fact the laws and policies in place today is to redress the imbalances of the past and allow for more equal participation in the economy.
Introduction.
Elon Musk stance on laws and policies should not surprise anybody. His fascism ideologies have a history of feeling superior. His grandfather was a neo-Nazi who moved from Canada to South Africa because the concept of apartheid intrigued him. His support for far-right AfD, Germany or his salute emulating Hilter. His stance is that of an apartheid beneficiary who does not see anything wrong that took place and wants measures that address the historical injustices abolished.
- Apartheid Childhood and Ideologies.
When you grew up in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg and Pretoria during the dark days of apartheid, you do not see the need for anything to be redressed. Most of his childhood was in northern suburbs excluded from the harsh realities of the brutal regime. He attended Bryanston High School and then Pretoria Boys High School. This suggests that his family’s wealth may be shielded from the brutal reality of the regime. The truth is that during the 80’s South Africa was under it is worst, when the apartheid regime was prepared to kill black people.
His father, Errol Musk in the CNN interview, has uttered words like the apartheid regime was not oppressing black people and he never saw it as such1. This is such a narrow-minded view because it erases the struggles the people who fought for this country had to endure. Freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, Winnie Mandela, Olivier Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, and Chris Hani.
Armand Bam describes it best in his “Errol Musk and Apartheid Amnesia”, article. He states that people like Errol Musk and Elon Musk see white monopoly capital as the only state of the world and cannot imagine a world where we would all be equal counterparts. This perception is so dangerous because the wealth they have can erase the feeling of guilt. They do not see anything wrong with the apartheid regime. They grew up with privilege and a sense of fascism views2. When the grandfather has uttered racist remarks, the father, how can the child see the world any different.
- The legislative policies Elon Musk wants abolished.
When the apartheid created laws, it was to segregate the white from the black, the rich from the poor. The regime would seize the land of the African indigenous people, force them into townships away from the city because they were not considered human. F.W de Klerk former President of the Apartheid regime, a noble prize winner denied that apartheid as a crime against humanity even though,
The United Nation, General Assembly Resolution 2202, 1966 declared apartheid as a crime against humanity3and in 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, declared it as an international crime 4. In 1988, Statue of Rome, International Criminal Court, Article 7(1) stated, crimes of humanity can be defined as gross human rights violations against people of certain racial groups, these include crimes of apartheid5. With all this acknowledgement worldwide, F.W de Klerk still did not acknowledge this as a crime until he faced backlash, followed by an apology by the F.W. Foundation.
He is remembered as the person who negotiated for apartheid to come to an end and hand over the majority, but also some of the worst years in South Africa and died with apartheid secrets. A conflicting legacy indeed. Dora Tamana, an anti-apartheid activists describe it as, blacks were not allowed to buy land or live in the city. He said our country is a prison house at the Women’s International Democratic Federation Conference6.
Employment Equity Act 55, this act was introduced to serve as a benchmark to have a more diverse working environment and that there would be more people represented, so that the demographic of the country be reflected. Creating a more diverse working environment means eliminating past injustices that systematically excluded designated groups from the working economy7. Section 2
states: (i) everyone should be given equal employment opportunity to prove him/herself and be treated fairly and (ii) to redress the inequalities of the disadvantaged individuals in organizations, thus giving them the right to apply for every level in the organization8. When these laws are created, they are not anti-white like Elon Musk has stated but because during apartheid majority of the population did not have the chance to work or be given the opportunity. They were oppressed and if they were given an opportunity, it was little pay and harsh working conditions.
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act was created to give South Africans who were excluded during apartheid a voice, a chance to better themselves, the ability to work in upper echelon organizations. It was put in place to empower people of color9.
According to Swanepoel, BBBEE gives the perfect description of the participation for black people but not limited to equal but given the chance to be an employee for the top companies in the country, be in control, manage or self-employed. The skills of development, resources, and investment in organizations that are owned or managed by previously disadvantaged groups10.
Affirmative Action, the policies put in place to facilitate equal and fair treatment. These are policies in education and the economy to redress past injustices done by the apartheid regime.
According to Pretorius 11, the objectives of affirmative action policies is (i) to ensure the eradication of the present social and economic discrimination against blacks and women,
(ii) to fix the remaining effect of the past discrimination against designated groups and (iii) to avert the advancement of discrimination against these groups.
Elon Musk wants South African government to bend its rules of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment compliance to operate Starlink in South Africa. An act that was adopted to redress economic inequalities from apartheid. He wants these policies and laws to be abolished because he wants to operate Starlink in South Africa without complying with the laws that have been exist sting since the late 90s and early 2000s. When the laws are put in place to correct crimes against humanity as defined by the United Nations, Elon Must say it is anti-white and that Starlink cannot operate in South Africa because he is not black.
It is ironic how a billionaire that was born into apartheid privilege says these things. The policies are clear. Starlink should comply with the laws of the country, for it to gain a license, it must comply with 30% owned by black people, women, youth or people with disabilities.
He sees it as racist policies when all he must do is give back to his birth country by investing in training developments, programs, education to comply with the laws but, he does not want to because he does not see anything wrong with what apartheid laws did to the country. The apartheid apologists are beaming with pride, ululating that their billionaire son of the African soil is continuing their legacy of exclusion, exclusion of equality, exclusion of land ownership, education and capital. The men like Hendrick Verwoerd, P.W. Botha, and F.W de Klerk. They would be proud because they did not view apartheid as a crime against humanity, and it is often said they died with apartheid secrets.
They would be proud because with the laws abolished, it means there is no redress for the injustices of the past and that we just forget our history. The history the people of this country fought for.
The history that sent Nelson Mandela to prison for 27 years and when he came out, he forgave the brutal regime without hesitance.
We should not find it amusing that Elon Musk sees the world this way; he was born into a hierarchy that still thinks equality is oppression and that he is a victim. He retweeted and posted 100% on a tweet that said “If white men become a minority, we will be slaughtered. Remember, if non-Whites openly hate White men while White men hold a collective majority, then they will be 1000x times more hostile and crueler when they are a majority”.
There is a saying in the world that says, “White people are not scared of anything but equality”. This confirms it because Elon Musk is afraid of equality. He is afraid of a world where white people empower black people by giving back.
Companies that have complied with the local laws of the country and are operating with licenses are;
- Amazon Web Services has been operating in South Africa since 2004 and has invested about R1.3B into skills develop programmes, creating employment, empowerment initiatives.
- IBM has invested over R700M since 2015 when they started operating in compliance with the BBBEE laws. They have even contributed towards one of the top universities in Africa, Witwatersrand, by building a research lab making the country grow in ICT innovation, analytics, cloud and A.I skills for the people of South Africa.
- By 2027, Microsoft would have invested R5.4B into South Africa providing the training facilities for A.I and technology infrastructure.
In the case of Vikings Pony Africa Pumps v Hidro-Tech Systems, the court confirmed that notion that investing into the economy by complying with BBBEE laws and affirmative action policies is a way of redressing past imbalances which is in accordance with the Constitution12.
In Brink v Kitshoff NO, the court stated that remedies that eliminate past discrimination are necessary to promote a just society13.
With the success of these companies operating in the country by investing in the economy, why can Elon Musk not do the same thing? Instead, he puts pressure on the government to abolish the laws meant to uplift most of the country. Why does the wealthiest men in the world with an upbringing in South Africa not see the need to put investments into the economy by creating jobs, training developments, schools? The answer is simply; He views South Africa as an African country and himself as a European.
- Afri-forum spread misinformation to Donald Trump and the World.
Afri-Forum has emulated Elon Musk in spreading misinformation, claiming South Africans are operating a white genocide against white farmers. They insist that there is a white genocide ongoing when the stats just suggest that there is a crime problem and that the murders are not racially motivated. South Africa has some of the highest crime rates in the world, according to the Crime Index. The murders are crime-related and have nothing to do with racial profiling, like Afri Forum claims.
This organization is a defender of minority privileges. The organization travelled to Washington, DC, The Capital of the United States of America, to have a meeting with Donald Trump’s administration about this “white genocide”. After the meeting, Donald Trump went and posted on his social platforms, “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that Radical Left Media doesn’t want to do so much as mentioned. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at minimum, is happening for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it; we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed”.
The hypocrisy by Afri-Forum after Donald Trump stated that he would cut aid funding to South Africa, when they said Donald Trump must punish the African Democracy Congress leaders and not the people of South Africa. What did they expect? Spreading misinformation and propaganda to the whole world would have consequences like cutting HIV & AIDS funding, which South Africa heavily relies on due to its high number patients with the virus.
They also challenge the new Expropriation Act14, which was introduced because Section 25(1)(2) and (3) of the Constitution would not allow for expropriation without compensation, but (2)(a) details expropriation in the interest of the public15. The new Act was introduced to bring clarity to some of the confusion. It simply states that it must be clearer on the issues. When laws that are already enshrined in the Constitution of the country that states there may be expropriation when it is within the interest of the public, Afri-Forum goes to the United States and states to Donald Trump that we are expropriating land without compensation.
South Africans’ reactions to the organization Afri-Forum were an expression of anger, some stating that Afri-Forum must be banned within the country, as it is a terrorist organization. The notion is that they are trying to overthrow the government of South Africa internationally. They took to the streets to demand they the organization and the people behind it be charged with treason.
When the United States offered asylum to White Afrikaners, only 49 of a population of 4,6 million fled to “seek refugee” because they are treated badly in the country. The country where they fear equality, the country where they are entitled to feel like victims if there are fair and equal opportunities for everyone.
What Afri-Forum is doing should be considered a violation of international law; it is not free speech to spread propaganda and the results being to have aid funding cut to the country.
Conclusion.
Today, there are many operating international companies doing business in South Africa by complying with the laws and regulations of the country. Elon Musk does not want to and is spreading misinformation and propaganda to millions of people so that the government can feel the pressure and ease the rules for Starlink. This should simply not happen.
We can survive without Starlink. It is just another service network provider like MTN, Vodacom, Telkom, and all others that provide Wi-Fi services to the country.
Bibliography
Legislation
UNGA Res 2202 (XXI) (16 December 1966)
International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (adopted 30 November 1973, entered into force 13 July 1976) 1015 UNTS 242, art 7(1).
Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (South Africa)
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 (South Africa) Swanepoel et al, The Law of Employment (3rd edn, LexisNexis 2008) 3.
Pretorius et al, Employment Equity Act (2nd edn, Juta 2012).
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, s 25.
Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 (South Africa).
Cases.
Viking Pony Africa Pumps (Pty) t/a Tricom Africa v Hidro-Tech Systems (Pty) Ltd (2010). ZASCA 23, 2010 (3) SA 365 (SCA).
Brink v Kitshoff NO (1996 (4) SA 19
Newspaper Articles.
Armand Bam “Errol Musk and Apartheid Amnesia and the Unexpected Comedy of Racial Anxiety” (2025) <( https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/opinion/2025-11-21-errol-musk-and apartheid-amnesia/ )> accessed 10 January 2026.
1 Errol Musk, interview by Donnie O’Sullivan, CNN, 14 November 2025.
2 Armand Bam, “Errol Musk, Apartheid Amnesia” (November 2025) <( https://mg.co.za/thought leader/opinion/2025-11-21-errol-musk-and-apartheid-amnesia/ )> accessed 10 January 2026.
3 UNGA Res 2202 (XXI) (16 December 1966).
4International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, (1976) 1015 UNTS 243, art 7(1)
5 Rome Statue of International Criminal Court, 1988, 2187 UNTS 90 (Rome Statue) art 7(1).
6 Women’s International Democratic Federation Conference (1955: East Berlin, Germany).
7 Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (South Africa).
8 Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, s 2(i)(ii)
9 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 (South Africa).
10 Swanepoel et al. 2008, P3.
11 Pretorius et al, 2012.
12 Viking Pony Africa Pumps (Pty) t/a Tricom Africa v Hidro-Tech Systems (Pty) Ltd (2010). ZASCA 23, 2010 (3) SA 365 (SCA).
13 Brink v Kitshoff NO (1996 (4) SA 19
14 Expropriation Act, 13 of 2024 (South Africa).
15 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 s 25(1)(2) (2a) (3).
