The tech billionaire has alleged that the country now has more discriminatory laws than those imposed on the black population under apartheid
South Africa’s presidency has condemned comments by tech billionaire Elon Musk after he claimed that Pretoria now enforces more racially discriminatory laws than under apartheid, citing data from the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).
In a social media post referencing the research body, Musk argued that post-apartheid legislation unfairly targets white South Africans and should be abolished.
”South Africa now has more anti-white laws than apartheid had anti-black laws,” Musk said.
He went on to assert that race-based legislation is fundamentally unjust, regardless of historical context.
”This is deeply wrong: the goal should be no race-based laws!” Musk added.
Musk’s remarks triggered a fierce response from the presidency, with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, rejecting the comparison as offensive and racially insensitive given South Africa’s history of institutionalized oppression.
”Only an unhinged, unrepentant racist will not understand how deeply offensive such words are to people who still bear the scars of apartheid,” Magwenya said.
He stressed that attempts to frame transformation and redress policies as equivalent to apartheid-era laws ignore both historical reality and present-day inequality.
”People still bear the scars of apartheid and everyday work to dismantle the mess left by colonialism and apartheid that benefited your ilk,” Magwenya added.
