Elon Musk, now one of the most powerful men in the US, would be happy to use his clout to benefit the country of his birth — if he ever had time to think about it.
That’s the view of his father Errol, 78, who told the Sunday Times this week he was in frequent contact with his Pretoria-born son, who has become president-elect Donald Trump’s “first buddy” and has been nominated as co-head of a new US agency, the department of government efficiency — Doge.
Errol, who lives in Langebaan on the West Coast, said that for many years Elon and his younger brother Kimbal, who also lives in the US and sits on the boards of Musk’s companies Tesla and SpaceX, had not been interested in investing in South Africa.
But their attitude had changed since the establishment of the government of national unity (GNU).
“They were very unhappy about spending even a cent in South Africa ... But lately they’re not so unhappy, they’re not so antagonistic about buying a house, or buying a bush farm or something any more,” Errol said.
“For a long time [they thought] it was just a total waste to do that. But they think it’s better now.”
With the creation of the GNU, “South Africa has never been in a better spot,” he said. “It’s better than the way things were, I mean, we need to go more that way. The ANC needs to include people from all races in their government.”
Asked if Elon was likely to put in a good word for South Africa with Trump, Errol said people in the US placed a great deal of importance on “meritocracy”, and South Africa would need to embrace that and end corruption.
The reason they get on so well is that Trump’s just like us. Trump would get on with just about any Joburg boykie that you could find
— Errol Musk
“Elon would like to help South Africa ... As long as people stick to sort of meritocracy-type of behaviour, Elon would be interested to help. People are sick and tired of hearing about how much was stolen [due to corruption and state capture], nobody wants to hear that any more. It’s simple, it’s not rocket science.”
However, Elon was a workaholic who routinely worked until 10pm and did not even take weekends off.
“I don’t think he has time to give South Africa the slightest thought. If you go to America, you’ll be there a month [and] you won’t hear a single news item about South Africa. Nothing.”
In September, President Cyril Ramaphosa had a meeting with Elon in New York on the sidelines of the opening session of the UN General Assembly. Both said afterwards their talks were positive.
Errol said that “a while ago”, before the May elections, Ramaphosa had asked him to try to set up a meeting with his son, but: “I didn’t think it was a good thing for Elon to add any sort of credibility to the ANC before this last election.”
But Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for Ramaphosa, said this was not true. “The Presidency HAS NEVER (sic) approached Mr Errol Musk to facilitate a meeting with Elon,” he said via WhatsApp.
Many analysts have expressed concern at what Trump’s second presidency will mean for South Africa, given his protectionist “America First” attitude and US condemnation of Pretoria’s International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of genocide. US members of Congress are also angered by South Africa’s close ties to Iran, China and Russia.
But Phiwo Mnyandu, assistant director of the Center for African Studies at Howard University in Washington, has described Elon’s relationship with Trump as a golden opportunity for Pretoria.
“South Africa has been given a gift here,” Mnyandu was quoted as saying in November on the news site PassBlue.com. Trump was more likely to listen to the views of like-minded associates such as Elon than to the advice of bureaucrats.
Errol appeared to be committed to South Africa and was “a perfect person to have as an interlocutor with his son’s boss”, Mnyandu said.
Asked if he would be willing to play this role, Errol said: “Ja, of course, I’d be honoured, I could do it, but it’s not really necessary.”
Musk snr is a big fan of Trump, calling his re-election “a miracle, a gift from God”.
He was not surprised that Elon had struck up a bromance with the president-elect.
“The reason they get on so well is that Trump’s just like us. Trump would get on with just about any Joburg boykie that you could find. He’s not even like an American, he’s more like a South African.”
As the father of the richest man in the world, Errol said he took the necessary precautions against would-be kidnappers. “We all worry about stuff like that. So we have got quite heavy security. What can you do, you just have to put up with it.”
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