Elon Musk's thoughts on South Africa's Expropriation Act has led to major financial ramifications.
Image: The Presidency/X
President Cyril Ramaphosa had to call billionaire Elon Musk on Monday evening to address his concerns about the new Expropriation Act.
According to Reuters, Bejani Chauke, an adviser to Cyril Ramaphosa reached out to Musk’s father Errol Musk to broker a call between the SA leader and the entrepreneur.
"I was asked if I could arrange a quick talk between Ramaphosa and Elon. So, I did and then they spoke a few minutes later," Errol Musk said.
The Presidency confirmed the phone conversation with Musk but a spokesperson for Ramaphosa declined to provide any details about the call and what was said.
Musk, a key advisor to US President Donald Trump accused government of practicing anti-white racism through the Expropriation Act.
A major impact of Musk’s influence could be seen after Trump announced on Monday that he would stop providing aid to South Africa following the signing of the Act.
The US leader said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that America will not stand for this and will act.
He will only send future funding to South Africa once a full investigation has been conducted.
The US provides South Africa with more than $400 million (R7.4 billion) in funding and aid.
Trump’s statements earlier this week sent the rand into a tailspin.
The rand hit R19 to the dollar at midnight on Monday, before settling somewhat at the top end of the R18 to the dollar range.
Over the week, the rand recovered and was trading at around R18,64 to the dollar on Wednesday at 10.30am.
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