Elon Musk: Mandela Wanted Equality—Not New Racist Laws in South Africa

Elon Musk: The whole idea of Nelson Mandela was that all races should be on an equal footing in South Africa.

“Why are there racist laws in South Africa? That's the first problem. That's what you should be attacking. It's improper for there to be racist laws in South Africa.

The whole idea with what Nelson Mandela, who was a great man, proposed, was that all races should be on an equal footing in South Africa. That's the right thing to do. Not to replace one set of racist laws with another set of racist laws, which is utterly wrong and improper.

That's the deal. That all races should be treated equally and there should be no preference given to one or the other. Whereas there are now 140 laws in South Africa that basically give strong preference if you're a black South African and not otherwise.

And so now, I'm in this absurd situation where I was born in South Africa but cannot get a license to operate Starlink because I'm not black. Does that seem right to you?”

Interview at the Qatar Economic Forum, May 20, 2025