The world’s richest man – Elon Musk – has distanced himself from his country of birth, South Africa, following former AfriForum’s Ernst Roets’s controversial interview on the Tucker Carlson Show.
Musk, who was born in Pretoria, also condemned the country for what he believes are the government’s “deeply wrong” actions.
His strong opinions come weeks after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting white Afrikaners asylum in America.
ELON MUSK DISOWNS SOUTH AFRICA
On his X app, Elon Musk retweeted US right-wing political commentator Tucker Carlson’s sit-down interview with former AfriForum Deputy CEO Ernst Roets.
In the clip, Roets doubled down on Elon’s claims that South Africa was promoting the agenda of a “white genocide.”
Distancing himself from his birth country, Elon tweeted: “Should note that I grew up as English South African, not Afrikaans. Consider myself to be simply an American. No hyphen”.
He added: “That said, what’s happening in South Africa is deeply wrong. Not what Mandela intended at all”.
Elon was born in 1971 to Errol and Maye Musk. At the age of 17, he moved from his Pretoria home to Canada, his mother’s country of birth. He later moved to the US to pursue studies and work opportunities. In 2002, Elon became a naturalised citizen.
It’s not the first time Elon Musk has disassociated himself with South Africa. In 2020, he responded to a tweep who asked him what his nationality was.
“American, but born in South Africa,” he replied.
ERNST ROETS: ‘WE NEED CHANGE’
On his own X account, Ernst Roets thanked Elon Musk for showing support to white South Africans.
He tweeted: “As I said during the interview, we are very grateful for the role that you have been playing to raise awareness about the crisis in South Africa. We need change!”
Meanwhile, AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel and the organisation – which falls under the Solidarity Movement – are potentially facing charges of high treason by the Hawks. This follows their delegation to the US, where they plan to garner support from the Trump administration to lobby against SA’s “race laws.”
DO YOU CONSIDER ELON MUSK AS A SOUTH AFRICAN OR AN AMERICAN?
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