Senegalese-American singer Akon has stirred conversation following remarks made on the Bagfuel Brigade podcast, where he offered his perspective on why Elon Musk continues to speak out in defense of white South Africans.

According to Akon, Musk a South African-born billionaire and CEO of several companies including Tesla and SpaceX supports white South Africans because he believes they are now living in harsher conditions than Black South Africans. “In South Africa, white people don’t have it as good as white people in America,” Akon said. “South Africa is probably the one place in Africa where the tables have turned white folks are now in the hood, and Black people are doing well. That’s why Elon Musk is fighting for those white folks.”

He further claimed that Musk sees the situation as one of inequality. “He feels like they’re being mistreated, that there’s no equality,” Akon added. “White folks are fighting for equality in South Africa because Blacks are the majority. Blacks in South Africa are united. If all African countries followed that model, we’d be the superpower of the universe.”

Musk has previously accused the South African government of ignoring what he called a "genocide" against white farmers. These comments came after the passage of the Expropriation Act in January under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration. The law allows for land to be taken without compensation in cases deemed to be in the public interest, particularly when land is unused or underutilized.

He has also criticized what he described as “racist ownership laws,” suggesting that property rights in South Africa are unfairly skewed against the white minority.

However, Akon’s claims about socioeconomic conditions have been widely challenged. According to 2022 data from the World Bank, white South Africans still earn nearly three times more than their Black counterparts. Despite representing just 7% of the population, white South Africans continue to control about 72% of the country’s agricultural land, underscoring the enduring economic disparities rooted in the apartheid era.