Elon Musk wades in on South African laws after Trump-Ramaphosa remarks

Ramaphosa's spokesperson pushes back against Musk attack

03 February 2025 - 14:24 By Reuters
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Businessman Elon Musk at a rally for US president-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC on January 19 2025. He was accompanied by his young son X ÃÆ A-Xii.
Businessman Elon Musk at a rally for US president-elect Donald Trump in Washington DC on January 19 2025. He was accompanied by his young son X ÃÆ A-Xii.
Image: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Elon Musk, the world's richest person and a South African-born US citizen who has US President Donald Trump's ear on Monday waded into the dispute over South Africa's policies.

This after the government defended itself on Monday against criticism of its land expropriation policy by Trump, who threatened to cut off funding to South Africa pending an inquiry into the issue.

Trump said on Sunday, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly”. 

“I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government had not confiscated any land and he looked forward to engaging Trump to foster a better understanding about the matter.

The US committed nearly $440m (R8.33bn) in assistance to South Africa in 2023, the most recent US government data showed. The lion's share, $315m (R5.95bn), was for HIV/Aids.

Ramaphosa said US funding accounted for 17% of South Africa's HIV/Aids programme but it was reliant on “no other significant funding” from the US.

The president signed into law a bill last month to make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, despite objections by some parties in the government of national unity.

“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” the Presidency said.

The question of land reform is politically highly charged due to the legacy of the colonial and apartheid eras, when black people were dispossessed of their land and denied property rights.

“Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?” Musk said in a post on X, responding to Ramaphosa who had posted the Presidency statement. He was apparently suggesting white people were the victims of the racism he alleged.

Ramaphosa's spokesperson Vincent Magwenya urged Musk to talk constructively with the South African president.

“My brother, you would know that owing to a devastating legacy of centuries of oppressive and brutal colonialism and apartheid our constitution provides for redressing the ills of the past,” he said.

Under the Expropriation Act, special conditions have to be met before expropriating land, such as it having longtime informal occupants, being unused and held purely for speculation or being abandoned.

The rand fell nearly 2% against the dollar early on Monday after Trump's remarks. Stocks and the benchmark government bond also tumbled.

Charles Robertson, an emerging markets specialist at FIM Partners, said African countries were relatively well positioned to withstand an attack by Trump because the US was a far less important investor than China and Europe.

But any US measures against South Africa would represent a serious challenge for Ramaphosa, who has been trying to boost the sluggish economy and attract foreign investors, he said.

“The difficulty with South Africa is, do you want to set up a factory in a country where today Trump's cutting off all aid? Maybe tomorrow, he's ripping up Agoa [a trade deal with Africa] and maybe on Wednesday he's adding 25% tariffs because they're too close to China.” 


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