Elon Musk calls for sanctions against South Africa due to racist laws
Billionaire Elon Musk said that if South Africa doesn’t change its super racist Apartheid 2.0 laws, the country must be sanctioned.
Elon Musk is a vocal critic of South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) laws, particularly as they relate to the licensing of his satellite internet service, Starlink.
The Electronic Communications Act (ECA) requires telecommunications licensees to be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups.
These historically disadvantaged groups include black, Indian, and coloured people, women, and people with disabilities.
Simply put, a service owned by a white male may not launch in South Africa without giving away part of the business.
Musk has traditionally resisted ceding equity in his companies, like Starlink, to local partners to satisfy these requirements.
Musk even alleged that he was offered opportunities to bribe his way into a license and launch Starlink in South Africa.
“South Africa won’t allow Starlink to be licensed, even though I was born there, simply because I am not black,” he said.
“We were offered many times the opportunity to bribe our way to a license by pretending that a black guy runs Starlink SA, but I have refused to do so on principle.”
Musk added in his post that racism should not be rewarded, regardless of which race it is applied to.
“Shame on the racist politicians in South Africa. They should be shown no respect whatsoever anywhere in the world and shunned for being unashamedly racist.”
“The South African laws are literally super racist, plain and simple. South Africa now has more anti-White laws than Apartheid had anti-Black laws,” he said.
“This is a shameful disgrace to the legacy of the great Nelson Mandela, who sought to have all races treated equally in South Africa.”
He added that BEE laws stifle foreign direct investment and prevent South Africans, particularly those in rural areas, from accessing high-speed internet.
The standoff remains a significant point of tension, with Musk calling for international sanctions against South African politicians who support these laws.
President Cyril Ramaphosa defends BEE
President Cyril Ramaphosa defended BEE, saying Elon Musk is being dishonest by claiming that these laws are racist.
“When it comes to the social media brouhaha from Elon Musk, I pay very little attention to that because I know our laws are not racist,” Ramaphosa said.
“They are empowerment laws meant to empower people in our country who were discriminated against.”
He explained that the people who were discriminated against include black people, in particular Africans, Coloureds, and Indians.
“Discrimination was also perpetrated against the women of our country. And may I say, white women were also affected,” he said.
Ramaphosa said that South Africa’s BEE laws seek to implement the Constitutional imperative to redress past imbalances.
“To do so, the Constitution has empowered us to pass laws that are empowering, not racist,” he said.
The President added that it was interesting that Elon Musk does not talk about the racist laws of the past.
Ramaphosa also denied that BEE laws were race-based. “He will never find race-based laws in our legislation. There are laws that are empowering all our people.”
The President also highlighted that BEE makes provision for international companies that have difficulty complying with the equity ownership portion of the legislation.
“They are given an opportunity through the Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes, where they can do other things that are empowering,” he explained.
“It could be in enterprise development, it could be in education, it could be in community development and all that.”
He said 600 U.S.-based companies were complying this way, including blue-chip companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
“So, singling out our BEE laws is, to me, quite dishonest. Because if you look at our laws, you’ll find that they’re empowering.”
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