Elon Musk ‘shocked’ over claim SA has more race laws now than during apartheid

Elon Musk has expressed his surprise at a survey claiming that South Africa currently has more race laws in place today than during the apartheid regime.

Musk himself may have been focused on American politics lately, but shares South African roots and was born in Pretoria. Musk also briefly attended the University of Pretoria.

Musk surprised over SA race Laws

The Tesla and SpaceX businessman took to his social media platform to retweet a study that reportedly found South Africa currently has more race laws in place today than under the notorious apartheid regime. 

The study, citing the South African Institute of Race Relations as its source, claimed that there are currently over 100 race-focused laws in place today.

Musk chose not to go into details about his opinions on the subject, simply exclaiming ‘wow’ in response to the findings.

Condemnation from former Public Protector

Interestingly, Musk has received backlash from a key South African political figure, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

Replying to Musk’s post, Madonsela questioned the controversial information the survey was putting forward as truth.

“Not true!!!” Thuli Madonsela

Race Law monitoring legislation

Race Law, an index of “Legislated Colour Discrimination in South Africa”, claims that the nation’s legal system is one of the few in the world that upholds these laws.

“South Africa’s legal system is one of only a handful around the world that treats legal subjects differently based on their perceived race or skin-colour.” Race Law

The entity insists that racially biased laws did not end when the nation heralded in democracy.

“This has been the case for centuries, but most of the world assumes it came to an end in the 1990s. This is not the case. Race law has continued, utilising the same racial categories that were formally defined during the twentieth century.” Race Law

Race Law interestingly says that South Africa has 317 ‘racial Acts of Parliament’ have been adopted in the country since 1910, with 117 of these having been adopted after 1994. Furthermore, 142 of these ‘racial Acts of Parliament’ are in operation in South Africa today.

Do you feel there are valid reasons for race laws in South Africa? 

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