'He is supremely talented at finding the right lever to pull': Trevor Noah on Elon Musk's disinformation regarding South Africa
Award-winning comedian Trevor Noah has opened up about the claims that Elon Musk has been making about South Africa.
In his podcast, What Now? Noah raised questions about the tech billionaire, his business tactics, and even questioned whether he is a con artist.
Noah pointed to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBEE) as being at the core of Musk's discontent with the country.
"If you look at Elon's plight with South Africa, I saw it start when he was not able to launch Starlink in the country because of government laws," he said.
Musk has repeatedly said that the satellite internet service is not available in the country due to his race and the supposed 142 anti-white race laws.
"Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa, because I'm not black," said the X owner.
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The South African
an hour ago
- The South African
Starlink triggers black ownership row in South Africa's parliament
South Africa's proposal to amend the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Act has provoked political outrage, with Elon Musk's Starlink at the forefront. The retaliation responds to Solly Malatsi's (Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies) Friday announcement, recommending they restructure the Electronic Communications Act, which requires 30% of foreign telecoms equity to be black-owned. Malatsi's proposition occurred two days after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited the White House, during which Cape Town-based billionaire Johann Rupert requested Musk's technology to tackle the nation's high murder rate. Starlink is yet to operate in South Africa as several neighboring countries grant access. Portfolio committee chair and African National Congress (ANC) member Khusela Diko declared Malatsi's scheme as bending the rules for Musk in a Parliamentary hearing on Tuesday. Moments later, Economic Freedom Fighters member Sixolise Gcilishe said, 'We are not going to accept a situation where our laws are going to be rewritten in Washington.' Meanwhile, ANC's Tshehofatso Chauke saw the policy as a threat to domestic business owners, believing it to offer an 'opportunity for international players to come through the back door' and 'favor big business rather than the interests of South Africans and those who are previously disadvantaged.' Democratic Alliance member Malatsi denied that Starlink played a role in the recommended policy change, stating that the amended framework had been internally discussed since around September of last year. 'We are not attempting to open a special dispensation for Starlink or any other company or an individual… There is no conspiracy on our part with regard to this policy direction,' Malatsi stated. The Minister revealed his intentions were driven by the need to attract investment and tighten business regulations. He believes the policy to be as domestically benefiting as the current BEE requirements, outlining that the reform offers foreign companies two avenues: an equity equivalent scheme or 30% black ownership. 'We advocate for smarter, scalable approaches that deliver meaningful impact and restore policy clarity, consistency, and investor confidence,' South Africa's Association of Communications and Technology said in a statement supporting Malatsi. The proposal has divided South Africa's cabinet, with some calling for legal intervention while others believe it doesn't object to current domestic laws. South Africa's BEE act, introduced after the conclusion of Apartheid, has been infamously criticized by Pretoria-born Starlink CEO Musk, who views the policy as 'openly racist.' Starlink has become increasingly prevalent in Africa – connecting pockets of rural Africa to fast internet – while steering clear of South Africa but operating in neighbors Eswatini, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Other African locations include Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and Benin. South Africa's lawmakers will continue to discuss Malatsi's policy reform, suggesting that, amid the backlash, the door remains narrowly open to restructuring the ICT sector's current black ownership requirements, enabling Starlink to open up shop. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
DIRCO defends policy change that will enable Musk's Starlink to operate in SA as 'in the national interest
Elon Musk. Bringing billionaire Elon Musk's controversial satellite internet system, Starlink, into South Africa's airspace is in the country's national interest because it will help meet its developmental goals Image: AFP Bringing billionaire Elon Musk's controversial satellite internet system, Starlink, into South Africa's airspace is in the country's national interest because it will help meet its developmental goals, said Deputy Minister of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Alvin Botes. During a conference on illicit financial flows, mobilising domestic resources, and financing for development, hosted at SGN Grant Thornton's offices at the end of last week, Botes said that any trade agreement would be subordinate to the Constitution and must facilitate development. Botes also hinted at government's policy towards trade agreements with the United States following President Cyril Ramaphosa's meeting with Trump on May 21. He said that the county's policies are 'not subordinate to trade incentives'. The Deputy Minister added: 'We can only speak about what our constitutional imperatives are.' He explained that it was important that public debates were held as government effects changes in law when public opinion focuses on certain issues. However, Botes also said that the United States is South Africa's second largest trade partner as a country following China. 'It would be reckless to say we don't need the US,' he noted, speaking specifically about automotive exports. During Ramaphosa's meeting with Trump, which was televised, the United States President seemingly blindsided Ramaphosa by screening videos in which then EFF leader Julius Malema chanted 'kill the boer, kill the farmer'. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Trump has been targeting South Africa for what he sees as genocide, while Musk has publicly stated that the country has 'racist ownership laws,' which may deter him from investing here, including through Starlink. Recent proposed changes by Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi, that will amend current laws governing the telecoms space has caused controversy and have been viewed as paving the way for Musk, who was previously close with US President Donald Trump, to operate his satellites in South Africa. Speaking to IOL on the sidelines of the SNG conference, Botes said trade agreements must be reconcilable with nation building. When specifically asked about Starlink, the Deputy Minister said government sought to get the best outcome for South Africans still suffering the consequences of the Apartheid era. Malatsi has proposed that the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to reconsider its regulations on ownership of licences. This would include making use of alternatives to requiring companies to be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged individuals before that entity can be awarded spectrum. Botes pointed out that not all South Africans have access to the internet and Starlink will bridge these gaps in rural areas. A release from Statistics South Africa last week showed that the percentage of households who had access to the Internet through any other means increased from 28.0% in 2010 to 82.1% by 2024. Malatsi was 'invited' by the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies to explain these directives, which would essentially allow international companies to implement skills development, enterprise development, socio-economic investment, and Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes instead of ownership. The Committee said that these directives 'appear to be in contravention of the Electronic Communications Act and in favour of low earth orbit satellite provider SpaceX, which will be providing broadband services'. Space X operates Starlink.
The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
The poverty that haunts the country
We need to get our economy to grow and create more jobs to close the poverty gap. While we attack each other on social media and in the letters columns of newspapers – over everything from Donald Trump to racism and B-BBEE – the reality is that we are, by our very access to these media, a privileged part of South African society regardless of our colour. But, we don't go to bed hungry every night, like a shocking one in four of our compatriots do. Statistics for last year show that 22.2% of households considered their access to food inadequate or severely inadequate, with the worst food access problems in the Northern Cape (34.3%), the Eastern Cape (31.3%), Mpumalanga (30.4%), and KwaZulu-Natal (23.9%). ALSO READ: Poverty, child labour and violence push boys out of school, says Unesco Those figures – along with the proportion of individuals receiving social grants – are a stark illustration of the poverty that haunts South Africa and of the huge gulf between the haves and the have-nots. The proportion of the population relying on government handouts increased from 12.8% in 2003 to 30.9% in 2019 and surged to 40.1% last year, due to the introduction of the special Covid social relief of distress grant. Many of the poorest households are headed by women, a group in our country likely to be less educated and employable, not to mention being disproportionately high numbers of crime victims. It would be easy for the heartless capitalists to say 'get a job!', when this is simply not possible for many. So that is why it is essential that the government continue to operate this social safety net. Those same capitalists should know that hungry people are angry people and that when they have nothing to lose, violence will mean nothing to them. ALSO READ: World Bank: 2% growth won't ease SA's poverty, unemployment We need to get our economy to grow and create more jobs to close the poverty gap. But we need to stop taxpayers' money, which could save lives, from being looted.
