Cape Town — South African-born billionaire, Elon Musk, has claimed that the reason why Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa is because he is not black.
In an X post, Musk claimed that his company, Starlink, was not allowed to operate in South Africa because he was not black.
“Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa, because I’m not black,” he said.
Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa, because I’m not black https://t.co/yOFafNValQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2025
In response to Musk’s claims, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) spokesperson, Clayson Monyela, outright refuted his claims and said it had nothing to do with race, and Starlink was open to operating in South Africa.
“Sir, that’s NOT true & you know it! It’s got nothing to do with your skin colour. Starlink is welcome to operate in South Africa provided there’s compliance with local laws. This is a global international trade & investment principle. There are over 600 USA companies investing & operating in South Africa, all complying & thriving! Microsoft just announced additional investments yesterday,” he said.
Sir, that’s NOT true & you know it! It’s got nothing to do with your skin colour. Starlink is welcome to operate in 🇿🇦 provided there’s compliance with local laws. This is a global international trade & investment principle. There are over 600 USA companies investing & operating… https://t.co/ablSe8tnn3
— Clayson Monyela (@ClaysonMonyela) March 7, 2025
Musk’s X post was in response to an interview by South African billionaire Robert Husov with Mario Nawfal.
Hersov claimed that South Africa currently has 140 race-based laws that were all anti-white laws.
“There’s been endless laws, anti-white, boiling us like a frog in a bowl. And all I can say is thank you, America, and thank you, Donald Trump, for taking notice because we are on the edge of the socialist abyss,” Hersov said.
Nawfal seemed to believe Hersov and questioned how to turn these laws around, and he claimed that Donald Trump’s intervention would be key to turn things around, as there is no chance of any internal change.
🚨🇿🇦SOUTH AFRICA IS ON THE EDGE OF A SOCIALIST ABYSS
Robert Hersov:
“140 race-based laws in South Africa, all anti-white.
There’s been endless laws, anti-white, boiling us like a frog in a bowl.
And all I can say is thank you, America, and thank you, Donald Trump, for… https://t.co/DSshO0oAbW pic.twitter.com/HjOIjaNAxW
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 7, 2025
According to IOL, the reason Starlink is unable to operate in South Africa is because the business withdrew from regulatory hearings held by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), according to Techpoint.
ICASA reportedly organised three hearings to get feedback on the proposed South African satellite services licensing system and seting up a registration procedure was important for multinational satellite operators that want to offer services directly or through partnerships with approved local suppliers.
X’s generative AI, Grok, said Musk (who owns X) was one of the leaders in spreading misinformation on socail emdia.
“Based on available reports, analyses, and sentiment on X as of March 07, 2025, Elon Musk is frequently identified as one of the most significant spreaders of misinformation on the platform,” Grok said.
Grok added that this assessment comes from various sources, including studies by organisations like the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which found that Musk’s posts promoting false or misleading claims about topics like the US election have amassed billions of views in 2024 alone.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
