A clip of Elon Musk seemingly snubbing a handshake from President Cyril Ramaphosa has gone viral. But is it all it seems for the Pretoria-born billionaire who has accused the South African government of promoting “openly racist laws”?
DID ELON MUSK REALLY SNUB PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA’S HANDSHAKE?
On the X app, a short clip of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the White House resurfaced.
In May, the president visited the Oval Office alongside a delegation, where he met with US President Donald Trump.
In the video, Ramaphosa shakes the hands of US officials, whilst Elon Musk laughs and looks on.
“Elon Musk doesn’t touch k******. This is embarrassing 💔”, read a X post.
However, a community note quickly corrected the fake news by posting the full clip of Elon shaking the president’s hand.
Last year, the two men met to discuss the potential operation of Elon Musk’s internet satellite service, Starlink, in the country. In images posted by the president, Musk was seen smiling while shaking his hand.
COULD STARLINK GET THE GREEN LIGHT IN SA?
South Africa is one of a few African countries that has not granted Elon Musk’s internet satellite service, Starlink, a licence to operate.
According to the world’s richest man, this is a result of “racist laws”, which require his company to adhere to a 30% local ownership mandate. The Pretoria-born billionaire is referring to the transformative legislation, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), which he has reportedly rejected.
According to reports, Starlink, which falls under SpaceX, could effectively bypass the law with its plans to invest over R2 billion in the country.
Business Day reports that the company would finance infrastructure to support the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which is made up of 16 countries.
Images via X: @starlink
In May, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi gazetted a policy direction for his department on Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs), which are considered “alternatives” to transformative legislation.
Without mentioning Starlink or Elon Musk, the minister claimed that the policy would “attract investment,” specifically in operating licensing.
The minister revealed that current legislation for foreign investments “did not allow companies to contribute to transformation goals in ways other than traditional ownership”.
DO YOU THINK ELON MUSK AND PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP?
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