Musk vs Malema: Billionaire takes fresh shot at ‘genocidal lunatic’ EFF leader

South African-born billionaire Elon Musk rang in the new year by stepping back into the boxing ring with Julius Malema and calling the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader a “genocidal lunatic” on Tuesday, 2 January.

In its counterpunch, the EFF told The Citizen that Musk is “panicking” about the outcome of this year’s national elections.

What Musk said…

The Tesla and SpaceX boss bashed Malema in his comment on a post about the “fate of South Africa’s… white citizens” by @EndWokeness on Musk’s social media platform X.

In the post, Malema is accused of “openly and repeatedly [calling] for genocide against white people”.

This year, the fate of South Africa's 4.51 million white citizens will be sealed.

A general election will be held in a few months, and one candidate is surging.

His name is Julis Malema, leader of the EFF Party. Malema has openly and repeatedly called for genocide against white… pic.twitter.com/EcoMVILDk6

Read more

Who is SA’s richest MP? Here’s what parliamentarians declared

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 1, 2024

EFF hits back

In reply to Musk’s latest comment on Malema, EFF MP and national spokesperson Vuyani Pambo told The Citizen that Musk is “panicking” about the outcome of the country’s 2024 elections.

“Some people must be met in the corridors—just to mince their racist faces. Elon Musk is panicking about what is obviously an inevitable outcome of the national elections… Julius Sello Malema will be president of South Africa. He must start practising calling the commander in chief as such,” Pambo said.

He continued by calling the billionaire businessman a “criminal” for his “illegal Starlink satellite operations”.

Starlink in SA?

The EFF spokesperson’s claim that Starlink being “illegal” is based on communications regulator Icasa slamming companies at the end of November for reportedly selling Starlink satellite internet terminals in South Africa.

Starlink, the low-Earth-orbit fleet of internet satellites launched and managed by Musk’s SpaceX, has, however, not applied for a licence to operate in the country.

ALSO READ: Musk’s ‘kill the boer’ saga: South Africans and analysts weigh in

Musk vs Malema: ‘Kill the Boer’ saga

Musk’s comment is the latest in the war of words that erupted between the billionaire and the EFF leader.

In July this year, Malema ended off his keynote address at the party’s 10th anniversary rally at Soweto’s FNB Stadium by chanting the controversial “Kill the Boer”.

Musk X-ed that the song promotes “white genocide”, while Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen expressed the party’s intention to file charges against Malema with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The Tesla boss also called President Cyril Ramaphosa out for his silence following the incident.

They are openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa. @CyrilRamaphosa, why do you say nothing?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2023

Malema shoots Musk down as ‘illiterate’

Malema wasted no time in hitting back at the Neuralink founder, calling him “illiterate” during a press briefing in Johannesburg.

“Why should I educate Elon Musk, he seems illiterate. The only thing that protects him is his white skin.”

ALSO READ: ‘It’s not my song’: Malema hits back at outrage ‘sponsored by Helen Zille’ over ‘Kill the Boer’