Senegalese-American singer Akon recently stated on the Bagfuel Brigade podcast that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, is advocating for white South Africans because they face worse living conditions than Black South Africans.
Musk, who grew up in South Africa, has criticized the country’s “racist ownership laws” and accused the government of failing to address what he calls a “genocide” against white farmers.
His comments followed the January passage of the Expropriation Act under President Cyril Ramaphosa, which permits the government to seize land, sometimes without compensation, for public interest or redistribution.
Akon argued that in South Africa, unlike in the U.S., white people live in poorer conditions while Black people are better off, claiming this motivates Musk’s advocacy for white South Africans’ equality.
He further noted that Black South Africans’ unity as the majority makes them dominant, suggesting that other African nations could follow suit to become global superpowers.
However, Akon’s claims contradict data: South Africa’s white workers earn nearly triple the wages of Black workers, per 2022 World Bank figures, and white farmers, despite being 7% of the population, own about 75% of the country’s land, even 30 years after apartheid’s end.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Akon’s claims, while well-intentioned, misrepresent the country’s economic realities, as white South Africans continue to hold disproportionate wealth and land.
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