The Presidency has told South African-born SpaceX and Tesla boss Elon Musk to move on and focus on making money in America amid claims that Starlink was offered multiple opportunities to “bribe” its way to a telecoms licence in the country by pretending that a black person ran the company’s local entity. Musk has been outspoken on his platform X (formerly Twitter), repeating that Starlink was barred from operating in South Africa because he is not black, an allegation that South African officials have dismissed. ‘Not black’ In a post on his social media platform X over the weekend, Musk once again pushed the same rhetoric, claiming the main reason Starlink could not launch in his home country was that he was not black.

“South Africa won’t allow Starlink to be licensed, even though I was born there, simply because I am not Black! “We were offered many times the opportunity to bribe our way to a license by pretending that a Black guy runs Starlink SA, but I have refused to do so on principle,” Musk posted. ‘It’s okay to move on!’ Musk has not provided any evidence of when the bribery claims were made, but instead spewed expletives at South African officials who questioned their veracity.

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told Musk to look for other markets. “There are currently 193 member states in the United Nations. Surely, there’s good money to be made out of 192 markets.

It’s okay to move on!” There are currently 193 member states in the United Nations. Surely, there's good money to be made out of 192 markets. It's okay to move on! https://t.co/eLSl0Bp52c— Vincent Magwenya (@SpokespersonRSA) April 12, 2026 ‘Comply with the law’ Head of Diplomacy Clayson Monyela told The Citizen that Musk is lying about the bribery claims.

“There are situations where you go to report a crime or an attempted crime, but there’s certainly no request from the South African government for any bribe, and it’s asking every company that wants to do business in South Africa to comply with the law,” said Monyela. Calls for probe Meanwhile, the Land Party has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently probe the bribery and extortion claims. “Corruption is rife in our country, and no allegation of this nature can be dismissed lightly.

The Land Party, therefore, calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to immediately task the Madlanga Commission to fully investigate Elon Musk’s claims. “Our opposition to Starlink is based on genuine national security and sovereignty concerns, not on any refusal to pay bribes. We believe the investigation is necessary so that the people of South Africa can know the truth,” the Land Party said.

Disclosure The Land Party has demanded investigations into all foreign companies operating in South Africa, including Amazon, to determine their compliance with local laws and whether bribes are being paid to secure market access. It further insists that these companies publicly disclose their Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) trading partners, arguing that transparency is needed to show whether B-BBEE genuinely benefits the majority of South Africans or merely enriches a politically connected elite. Starlink licence SpaceX has refused to apply for a licence to operate Starlink in South Africa because the Electronic Communications Act requires licence holders to be at least 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups. The company opposes this provision, despite Starlink being hailed as a breakthrough for rural connectivity, offering high-speed satellite internet to areas where mobile operators have struggled to provide profitable coverage.