Johannesburg – South Africa’s president has raised concerns to Elon Musk about “disinformation” after US President Donald Trump claimed the government was “confiscating land”, his spokesperson said on Wednesday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke with South African-born Musk on Tuesday, following the comments from Trump who appeared to be referring to a land expropriation act signed last month.
“We flagged our concern with respect to the disinformation that we saw in the announcement by President Trump, but also in his own response to our statement,” Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya told reporters.
Following Trump’s charge on social media on Sunday, Musk used his platform X to accuse Ramaphosa’s government of having “openly racist ownership laws”.
[WATCH] Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya explains why President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to tech tycoon Elon Musk on SA’s land expropriation policy. “It was important that they have that conversation… considering his influence within the (Donald) Trump circle.”… pic.twitter.com/Q3jlfCDt6X
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) February 5, 2025
Ramaphosa rejected Trump’s claims on Monday, saying the 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”.
The act stipulates the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to seize in the public interest.
However, it does not allow for arbitrary seizures and states that attempts must be made to reach an agreement on compensation with the owner.
In his claims of racist laws, Musk may have been referring to a black empowerment policy that has reportedly been behind delays in the licensing in South Africa of his Starlink satellite internet service.
The policy, which aim to mitigate the legacy of racial inequality left by apartheid, says that major companies – including foreign investors – must provide 30 percent equity to historically disadvantaged groups.
Magwenya said Ramaphosa wanted Musk, the world’s richest man, to invest in South Africa, which he left in the late 1980s when he was aged 17.
He had met Musk in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly “with the intention to see him invest more in South Africa,” the spokesman said.
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@GovernmentZA
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