South Africa on Friday rejected a claim by multibillionaire Elon Musk that his Starlink satellite company could not operate in the country because he is not Black.

Musk, in his latest rebuke of the country where he was born and went to school, wrote on X, “Starlink is not allowed to operate in South Africa, because I’m not black”.

A senior official at the foreign affairs department, Clayson Monyela, responded emphatically on the social media platform.

“Sir, that’s NOT true & you know it! It’s got nothing to do with your skin colour. Starlink is welcome to operate in South Africa provided there’s compliance with local laws. This is a global international trade & investment principle,” Monyela wrote.

Musk appeared to be taking a swipe at local Black Economic Empowerment rules that foreign-owned telecommunications licensees sell 30% of the equity in their local subsidiaries to historically disadvantaged groups.

South African technology news website TechCentral has reported that Starlink’s parent company SpaceX wrote to telecommunications regulator ICASA telling it that it should rethink the 30% ownership requirement for licensees.

An ICASA spokesperson said without elaborating: “ICASA has not received any application from Starlink or SpaceX.”

Meanwhile, communications minister, Solly Malatsi has not yet given any comment on the issue.