Elon Musk Wins Exception to Black Ownership Rule in South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa plans to grant billionaire Elon Musk a deal with his Starlink internet network in an effort to smooth over their rocky relationship before Ramaphosa meets with Trump and friends on Wednesday.

Ramaphosa is circumventing the country’s Black Economic Empowerment laws to bring Musk’s Starlink to rural regions, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news. Musk has lumped the BEE initiative in with his false narrative of white genocide in South Africa, stating that “Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa, because I’m not black.”

Even Musk’s own Grok AI took issue with this claim, writing in March that “Elon Musk’s claim about race based restrictions lacks evidence; the issue is regulatory compliance, not racial discrimination. Similar challenges have delayed Starlink in other African Countries like Cameroon.” This was before Musk forced Grok to reply to everything with claims that there is a white genocide happening in South Africa.

This deal comes before what is expected to be a tense meeting, as Ramaphosa has vehemently denied Trump’s claims of “white genocide,” which caused the administration to bring in 59 Afrikaner “refugees” to the U.S. this month. He may also challenge the Trump administration on its support for Israel’s actual genocide. “ laughable that you can use the genocide word on South Africa, while on the other hand you’re looking the other way where the actual genocide is being committed,” a spokesman for Ramaphosa toldThe New York Timeson Monday.

Only time will tell if this Starlink deal—made on the tail end of another successful deal-making trip for Trump and Musk in the Middle East—will be enough to soften the blow.