On Friday, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said on X that South Africa now has more anti-white laws than it had anti-Black laws during apartheid.
Musk called this “deeply wrong” and advocated for eliminating all race-based legislation.
The South African-born American controversial billionaire quoted a post referencing data from the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR), which was founded in 1929 and tracks race-based legislation through its Index of Race Law.
According to the IRR, since 1910, 324 racial acts of Parliament have been adopted in South Africa. Of these, 145 remain operative as of June, though nine have been deracialised.
Data from the IRR also shows that 122 racial laws have been passed in South Africa since 1994.
The institute notes that South Africa’s legal system treats subjects differently based on perceived race or skin color. Key legislation includes the 1998 Employment Equity Act and the 2003 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.
Critics Challenge Methodology
However, critics argue the IRR count is misleading.
William Shoki, editor of Africa Is a Country, called the methodology ‘laughably broad’ in the New York Times earlier this year.
Journalist Anton Harber notes in Daily Maverick that many of the laws listed in the data only promote inclusivity or prohibit discrimination, while others are dormant.
Musk, a great admirer of and once an ally of President Donald Trump, has echoed his stance. Trump has repeatedly alleged a ‘white genocide‘ in South Africa, claims that South African officials deny.
Musk had also criticized his birth nation earlier this year, after Trump signed an executive order cutting U.S. aid to South Africa, calling it a country with ‘racist ownership laws’ and accusing the government of failing to stop what he termed a ‘genocide’ against white farmers.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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