Musk to join Trump for meeting with South Africa’s Ramaphosa

Elon Musk will join President Donald Trump’s meeting with South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday.

The Pretoria-born billionaire has been a staunch critic of Ramaphosa’s government, and has spread the conspiracy theory that the country that ended apartheid is conducting a genocide against the White minority that once ruled it.

Trump repeated the claim twice last week, raising concern among some of Ramaphosa advisers that their boss was being set up for an Oval Office dressing-down similar to the one that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy faced earlier this year.

South Africa’s foreign minister and agricultural minister — a White man who last week called the claims of genocide “nonsense” — will join the delegation, along with billionaire Johann Rupert, chairman of luxury goods firm Richemont, and golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, according to a presidency statement.

Trump will be joined by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among others.

South Africa’s government plans to offer Musk a workaround of local Black-ownership laws for his Starlink internet service to operate in the country, aiming to ease tensions with both the billionaire and Trump, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

© 2025 Bloomberg

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