It’s a “bromance”, declared several newspaper headlines, referring to the photo taken in New York last week of President Cyril Ramaphosa meeting the world’s richest man, South African-born Elon Musk.
The session between the two men took place behind closed doors — Musk also met the presidents of Lesotho and Namibia, among other world leaders — but we can infer what was discussed.
Ramaphosa said he broached the subject of investment in telecommunications (Starlink) and automotive manufacturing (Tesla) in South Africa. He may even have dangled a few carrots in front of the billionaire; we don’t know.
Musk is likely to have pitched the launch of Starlink — SpaceX’s constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites. Starlink is still not available commercially in South Africa, despite having been launched in many other countries in Southern Africa, including Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Neither Musk nor SpaceX has said why it’s taking so long to launch Starlink in South Africa, but speculation has centred on the BEE rules enforced on licensees by communications regulator Icasa. Many commentators say the BEE requirements, which mandate an investment by “historically disadvantaged individuals”, discourage investment, including by Starlink.
Whether this is what’s holding back Starlink’s launch in South Africa is pure conjecture, though Musk — who posts on X occasionally about the country of his birth, including his dislike of the EFF and its firebrand leader, Julius Malema — hasn’t said anything to dispel the rumours. Given his political views, it may even be fair to assume that he isn’t a fan of BEE and the red tape that goes with it.
Still, we know regulatory executives representing Starlink visited South Africa in September, fuelling speculation that work has begun to license the broadband service here. The question is whether Musk, who isn’t shy of picking fights with world leaders — witness his scathing criticism of Brazil (which has slapped a ban on X over alleged misinformation on the platform), Australia and the UK — feels a need to stir up trouble for Ramaphosa.
If tackling BEE rules in South Africa helps him elect Donald Trump in the US, he might do it, but last week’s meeting with Ramaphosa and the presence of his regulatory executives in the country last month suggest he’s not looking for a fight.
Adding some potential intrigue to the process is that South Africa’s minister of communications is now Solly Malatsi, who is also second deputy federal leader of the DA, a party that wants BEE scrapped in its current form.
Malatsi’s hands may be tied, though — he can’t simply offer a special dispensation to Musk and Starlink, ignoring what regulations say about licensing terms.
He knows this well. And thus far, Malatsi has shown no desire to rock the government of national unity boat, preferring instead to work collaboratively with his deputy (and the former minister of communications), the ANC’s Mondli Gungubele.
If Musk has eyes for anyone right now, it’s smart, quick-witted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
However, if Musk decides to play hardball on BEE requirements for licensing Starlink (and it must be said, there is no firm indication that he will), Malatsi could find himself in the middle of competing interests and in a political predicament. But that’s all theoretical for now.
Ramaphosa’s meeting with Musk may have helped smooth the path to the introduction of Starlink in South Africa. But as for Tesla building a manufacturing plant here, that’s likely a pipe dream.
Tesla doesn’t even sell its cars in South Africa — Musk has blamed high import taxes on electric vehicles for this — so a local Tesla factory seems about as likely as Ramaphosa getting the smart cities and bullet trains he’s so fond of pontificating about in his state of the nation speeches.
Don’t get me wrong: it’s good that Musk and Ramaphosa have met, and that the president likely had the chance to tell him about South Africa’s improving prospects under the GNU. The optics of the photo are good too.
A “bromance”, however, it is not.
It may have made for cute headlines, but the brilliant but capricious billionaire’s focus, personally and business-wise, is clearly elsewhere.
If Musk has eyes for anyone right now, it’s smart, quick-witted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Though Musk has denied a romantic relationship (as has his mother, Maye), the two are clearly closely aligned politically and ideologically. The same cannot possibly be said of Musk and Ramaphosa.
McLeod is editor of TechCentral
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