'Not because of your skin colour'

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South Africa’s head of Public Diplomacy, Clayson Monyela has rubbished Elon Musk’s claim that his internet satellite service Starlink was rejected in the country based on his race.

The world’s richest man – who hails from Pretoria and now lives in the US – criticised the government over what he believes are “racist laws.”

This comes amid the company’s apparent disregard of BEE laws (Black Economic Empowerment), which dictate that foreign investors must secure local stakeholding.

GOVERNMENT CLAPS BACK AT ELON MUSK

In a tweet on Friday, 7 March, Elon Musk slammed South Africa’s “rejection” of Starlink, which is part of his SpaceX company.

He tweeted: “Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa because I’m not black.”

Elon Musk claims Starlink has been rejected by South African authorities based on his race. However, he has been accused of spreading ‘misinformation’.
Image via X: @elonmusk

Elon was indirectly referring to ICASA’s BEE requirement, which requires all foreign companies to acquire a 30% local shareholding by “historically disadvantaged” groups. In a written submission, SpaceX appealed to the authority to “rethink” its legislature. It later withdrew its proposal to establish a license to operate in South Africa.�

Elon Musk’s tweet attracted backlash from many South Africans who accused him of spreading misinformation about his home country.

Head of Public Diplomacy Clayson Monyela responded to Elon’s tweet, posting: “Sir, that’s NOT true, and you know it! It’s got nothing to do with your skin colour”.

He continued: “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 #SouthAfrica🇿🇦…all complying & thriving!”.

MICROSOFT SECURES MULTI-BILLION DEAL

One of the companies Clayson Monyela referred to was Microsoft, which recently announced plans to invest another R5 billion into expanding its cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in South Africa over the next two years.

Unlike Elon Musk’s Starlink, Microsoft has secured local shareholding as per BEE requirements. It has also established the country’s first data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

According to Microsoft, the latest investment will enable a wide range of local organisations, from start-ups to large multinationals and government entities, to access the cloud and AI solutions to improve operational efficiency.

Since the first conference in 2018, the presidency claims that SA has attracted R1.14 trillion worth of investment commitments across a broad range of economic sectors, including mining, manufacturing, agriculture, and the digital economy.