President Cyril Ramaphosa has revealed some details about the closed-door meeting he had with South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk, on Monday, in the US.
The president shared the details in an interview with state broadcaster SABC yesterday.
This, as Ramaphosa continues with his charm offensive to attract American investors to the country while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Musk and Ramaphosa discussed SA’s telecommunications and automotive sectors, among others the president believes the tech billionaire can invest in.
With a net worth of $268 billion (R4.6 trillion), Musk is the world’s richest man. He is known for his key roles in space company SpaceX and electric vehicle company Tesla.
Other involvements include ownership of X Corp, the company that operates social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Meeting Elon Musk was a clear intention of mine because I had spoken to him on the phone, and when I came to New York, I said I would like to meet him. It’s a full process. Some people call it bromance, so it’s a whole process of rekindling his affection and connection with South Africa,” says Ramaphosa.
“Of course, it cannot be a love affair; it can be an investment relationship. His businesses are invested in many parts of the world, so he is a top player business person who is very entrepreneurial and we want to interest him more in South Africa in a variety of areas.
“He is already looking at our country with some interest in a number of sectors, such as telecoms and the automotive sector. Those are some of the areas that we spoke about. Nothing has been bedded down yet.
“As it happens with potential investors, you have to court them; you have to be talking to them, and you’ve got to be demonstrating to them that there is a conducive environment for them to invest. So, we will see how this turns out.
“He is South African-born and South Africa is his home, and I would want to see him coming to South Africa for a visit, tour or whatever. Our discussions are embroiled on a number of issues and we hope there will be progress going forward.”
Musk also met other African leaders, including Lesotho prime minister Same Matekane and Namibian president Nangolo Mbumba.
Ramaphosa’s meeting with Musk comes as South Africa eagerly awaits the launch of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service in the country.
With Starlink already launching in SA’s Southern African peers, there’s been a lot of questions around why the satellite-based internet service has yet to be launched in the tech billionaire's country of birth.
For it to be able to operate in SA, Starlink must apply for a licence from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
One of the requirements for licence approval is that the company must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups.
Telecoms regulator ICASA recently told ITWeb TV that it has not yet received the application from Starlink.
Starlink is a low-Earth orbit satellite internet constellation operated by Musk’s SpaceX, providing satellite internet access coverage to over 100 countries. SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites in 2019.
The company revealed today that it now has four million users across the globe. SpaceX has completed more than 100 launches, placing more than 5 000 Starlink satellites in orbit.
“Starlink is being used by so many people, businesses and organisations in more than 100 countries, territories and other markets around the world, spanning all seven continents and oceans. The number of people using Starlink around the world has grown to more than four million and counting,” says the company in a statement.
It points out that a third of humanity remains offline, and many more have only basic connectivity, which is often slow, intermittent and unaffordable.
“Starlink is making tremendous strides in bridging the digital divide by quickly expanding access to high-speed internet to locations where it has historically been unreliable, unaffordable or completely unavailable,” it adds.
“Fast, reliable internet for many people means access to healthcare, the ability to take online classes, work from anywhere, and communicate with friends and family in real-time – and it can even help save lives.”
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