Wednesday, 21 May 2025

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) condemns in the strongest terms the inclusion of Stellenbosch billionaire Johann Rupert in a South African delegation that is set to meet with President of the United States of America Donald Trump to “mend” diplomatic, trade and economic relations between the two nations.

In what can only be described as capture and an exhibition of the undue influence of big business in an interaction between two nations premised on democracy and sovereignty, Trump and Ramaphosa have allowed their benefactors and funders to influence and control the relations between South Africa and the United States, undermining the people of both nations.

Elon Musk and Johann Rupert are two sides of the same coin. Both are egoistical businessmen who parade their control over the Presidents of these two nations and both hold a considerable stake in both of these economies. They are both racist to the core and are opposed to transformation and equity because it threatens their ill-gotten wealth and control over the political fortunes of the United States and South Africa.

The inclusion of Johann Rupert in a diplomatic delegation is a spit in the face of our democracy, which has grown to appreciate the need for redress in education, healthcare and land ownership through the BELA Act, the NHI Act and the Expropriation Act. Rupert, a hard-nosed Afrikaner has always been opposed to land expropriation without compensation and his role in this visit will be to assure Trump that not only is this not occurring in South Africa, but that it never will. Rupert is leading this charge as a major beneficiary of unequal land and economic relations in South Africa and has in the past even threatened to disinvest in our country and collapse our economy if his ill-gotten wealth is threatened through constitutional mechanisms.

The EFF reiterates that Ramaphosa and Rupert carry no mandate or legislative power to make any assurances around the reversal of South Africa’s legislation that was adopted through Parliament, and this includes having no mandate to circumvent regulatory legislation that compels Elon Musk’s Starlink to abide by local ownership prescripts in order to be granted licensing rights to operate in South Africa.

Any such assurances will be meaningless and the EFF reserves all of its rights to challenge back-room dealings which undermine the will of the people and the Parliament of South Africa, in our courts of law.

ISSUED BY ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Sinawo Thambo (National Spokesperson) 072 629 7422

Thembi Msane (National Spokesperson) 061 467 8169

Andiswa Madikazi (Parliament Media Liason) 069 516 4924

Thato Lebyane (Media Inquiries) 078 563 1581