Elon Musk Calls South Africa Racist Over Starlink License Block

Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire and founder of SpaceX and Starlink, has publicly accused the South African government of racism for blocking his satellite internet service from obtaining an operating licence in his country of birth.

In a strongly worded post on X on Sunday, Musk wrote: “South Africa won’t allow Starlink to be licensed, even though I was BORN THERE, simply because I am not Black.”

He added that Starlink had been offered a path to approval through what he described as bribery, involving the fronting of a Black executive to meet ownership requirements, but that he refused on principle.

Musk called the country’s politicians “unashamedly racist” and said they should be shunned globally, adding that “racism should not be rewarded no matter to which race it is applied.”

The dispute centres on South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment rules, which require companies in certain sectors, including telecoms, to meet racial ownership targets typically 30% Black ownership — as a mechanism to address inequalities rooted in the apartheid era.

Starlink has repeatedly been denied a licence for failing to comply with these equity requirements.

This is not the first time Musk has levelled such accusations. In earlier posts, he described South Africa as having what he called extremely racist laws, arguing they betray the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

He has previously claimed there are over 140 laws on the books that are explicitly discriminatory against non-Black citizens.

Starlink currently operates in nearly two dozen African countries, providing high-speed internet connectivity to remote areas, schools, and hospitals.

In South Africa, however, regulatory hurdles have prevented any rollout despite Musk’s repeated offers to donate internet connectivity to thousands of rural schools across the country.

The South African government has consistently defended its B-BBEE policy as essential to correcting deep historical injustices.

Officials have previously insisted the rules apply equally to all companies and are not directed at any specific individual, pushing back firmly against Musk’s characterisation of the policy as racially targeted.

As of Sunday, no official response had been issued by the South African government or the country’s communications regulator, ICASA, to Musk’s latest remarks. Starlink remains unavailable to South African consumers and businesses.

The development underscores the continuing tension between post-apartheid transformation policies and global business interests in Africa’s most industrialised economy.