A South African politician discussed false information with Elon Musk following the Trump attack

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would halt funding to South Africa due to its land reform program, the presidency claimed Tuesday that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had a conversation with Elon Musk concerning false information about the country.

Trump said on Sunday that South Africa was mistreating “certain classes of people” and stealing land. In response, Ramaphosa stated on Monday that the policy was intended to provide fair public access to land and that no land had been seized by the government.

With a post on X on Monday, billionaire Musk, who is close to Trump and was born in South Africa, entered the controversy by criticizing the country of having “openly racist ownership laws” and implying that white people were the victims.

On X, the presidency said that Musk and Ramaphosa had discussed “on issues of misinformation and distortions” regarding South Africa on Monday.

“In the process, the President reiterated South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality,” it stated without providing any information.