The Rise of Elon Musk: A Man of Power and Influence
Elon Musk has become a ubiquitous figure in modern society, transcending the boundaries of technology, politics, and culture. His influence is unparalleled, as he navigates the corridors of power with ease, from firing federal employees to gaining access to sensitive government data. Musk’s appearances in the Oval Office, his interviews on Fox News alongside former President Donald Trump, and his participation in White House cabinet meetings have solidified his reputation as one of the most powerful individuals on the planet. For many, Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration represents a concerning merger of private interests and public institutions, raising questions about the role of Big Tech in shaping political outcomes. Yet, for others, his actions are nothing more than a perplexing yet fascination-worthy spectacle, a “bromance” at the heart of power. Regardless of how one interprets Musk’s role, his influence is undeniable, and his legacy continues to grow in complexity.
The Roots of Power: Musk’s South African Upbringing
While Elon Musk’s meteoric rise to global prominence is well-documented, a critical aspect of his identity often overlooked is his South African heritage. Born in Pretoria in 1971, Musk was part of the white South African elite, a demographic that historically benefitted from the violent colonial rule and racial hierarchy of apartheid. Despite the system’s brutal underpinnings, Musk’s upbringing was typical of the privileged class: a wealthy family, private education, and access to opportunities that most South Africans could only dream of. While Musk has spoken of the loneliness and bullying he endured as a child, the advantages of his upbringing were undeniable. His father, an engineer and briefly a member of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party, did little to instill in Musk a deep-seated opposition to the apartheid regime. Instead, like many white South Africans of his generation, Musk left the country before the collapse of racial rule in 1989, settling in Canada, where his mother was born, and never returned.
Yet, South Africa’s legacy left an indelible mark on Musk. His recent intervention in the debate over South Africa’s land reform is a stark example. In response to a bill passed in January 2019, which allowed for the expropriation of land without compensation in specific circumstances, Musk took to his platform to suggest that white South Africans were uniquely persecuted. This narrative, which aligns with far-right ideologies, ignores the broader context of land restitution as a widely accepted norm in post-colonial societies. The Trump administration, ever eager to amplify fringe voices and promote distorted narratives of racial victimhood, was quick to seize on Musk’s claims as a symbolic weapon. For many, Musk’s stance on South Africa’s land reform controversy reveals less about his concern for justice and more about his ideological alignment with the logic of apartheid.
Apartheid’s Legacy: How South Africa Shaped Musk’s Worldview
Elon Musk’s ideological commitments—deregulated markets, hostility to labor organizing, and Trumpist nationalism—bear the unmistakable trace of apartheid’s economic principles. In essence, Musk’s worldview reprises the apartheid regime’s policies on a global scale: maintaining zones of privilege under the guise of “free enterprise” while resisting any moves toward redistribution as existential threats. His exhortations for others to work harder and his pleas for special treatment for himself and his businesses are a direct extension of this logic. Musk’s relentless push for innovation and efficiency, while often celebrated as visionary, reflects a deeper belief in the inevitability of racial and economic hierarchy.
For Musk and his ideological allies, the specter of decolonization and the redistribution of power is a constant source of anxiety. His recent claims that South Africa is “openly pushing for genocide of white people” are both inflammatory and disingenuous, ignoring the country’s ongoing efforts to address the historical injustices of apartheid. These statements, however, are not merely personal opinions; they are part of a broader narrative that seeks to discredit South Africa’s post-apartheid government and reinforce a global right-wing ideology that views decolonization as a threat to civilizational order.
The Global Right and the Politics of Resentment
Elon Musk is not alone in his reactionary views. He is part of a cohort of influential figures with roots in Southern Africa who have found an unlikely home in Silicon Valley and now wield disproportionate influence over American and global right-wing politics. Men like Peter Thiel and David Sacks, both of whom emerged from a historical tradition that revered hierarchy and sought to sustain racial and economic dominance, have brought their visions of elite rule to the forefront of modern conservatism. Their politics reflect an instinct to preserve power at all costs, cloaked in the language of meritocracy and market freedom, while channeling resentment toward new power structures they view as threats to their position.
For these men, Southern Africa is never far from their minds. They are part of a global right-wing movement that has long been fascinated with Rhodesia and its successor, Zimbabwe. The loss of white-minority rule in Zimbabwe is frequently invoked as a cautionary tale of civilizational decay, a formerly “successful” colonial state plunged into chaos through decolonization. The specter of “Zimbabwefication” is wielded as a warning against any redistribution of power, and South Africa is increasingly being cast in this role. Musk’s claim that South Africa is “openly pushing for genocide of white people” is just the latest iteration of this narrative, one that seeks to frame decolonization and land reform as existential threats to white identity.
Identity Politics and the Irony of Elite Resentment
Despite his vehement opposition to “woke” identity politics, Elon Musk is, in many ways, an ardent identitarian. He has boosted claims from far-right South African groups that the government is “race mad,” with 142 “race laws” on its books. These claims, however, are based on a laughably broad definition of what constitutes a “race law.” Any law that makes race legally relevant supposedly qualifies, including those that prohibit arbitrary racial discrimination or repeal apartheid-era discrimination. By this metric, even some of the most basic anti-discrimination laws in the United States could be labeled as “race laws.”
The irony of Musk’s obsession with race is not lost on many. A man who has aggressively dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at his companies, who has mocked the very concept of “woke” culture, and who has repeatedly espoused the virtues of a race-blind society is now using his platform to amplify the grievances of a single racial group. This fixation on white identity is both dangerous and revealing. It has led to real-world consequences, such as the Trump administration’s decision to end America’s financial assistance to South Africa, potentially devastating the country’s efforts to combat H.I.V. and AIDS. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s refusal to attend the Group of 20 summit in South Africa, citing the country’s supposed “anti-Americanism” and “bad things,” is another exemple of how Musk’s narrative has shaped U.S. foreign policy.
The Bigger Picture: Settler Rule and the Failure of Decolonization
At the heart of Elon Musk’s worldview is an unresolved question: What happens when settler rule fails but settlers remain? This is not just a South African question; it is a global one, with implications for every society grappling with the legacy of colonialism. In South Africa, the collapse of apartheid marked the end of formal racial rule, but it did not erase the economic and social inequalities that were its foundation. For figures like Musk, the failure of settler rule is not an opportunity for reckoning and redistribution but a threat to be resisted at all costs. His interventions in South Africa’s land reform debate and his amplification of far-right narratives about white victimhood are attempts to frame the story of decolonization as one of civilizational decline.
Yet, history is not a narrative that can be rewritten to suit the interests of the powerful. South Africa’s story is one of resilience and hope, of a people who refused to accept the permanence of white dominance. While figures like Elon Musk may try to co-opt this story for their own purposes, they will ultimately fail. The future of South Africa, like the future of the world, is not determined by the whims of billionaires or the nostalgia of reactionaries. It is shaped by the collective efforts of those who believe in justice, equality, and the possibility of a different world. In the end, Elon Musk may be able to colonize Mars, but he will not be able to colonize history.
