Did Elon Musk really tweet about load shedding?

A tweet supposedly of Elon Musk criticising Eskom and its load shedding has gone viral. But was it really posted by the South African-born X founder?

Over the past months, the billionaire businessman has called out his country of birth for “racial discrimination” and even claimed it pushed a “genocide of white people.”

ELON MUSK’S ‘LOAD SHEDDING TWEETS’ GO VIRAL

In the tweet – which has circulated as a screenshot – Elon Musk supposedly tweeted: “So Eskom pulls out Stage 6 like it’s a surprise. But millions meant for maintenance and new power stations keep disappearing into ‘consultation fees.’ At this point, load shedding isn’t a crisis…it’s a business model.”

The tweet is likely referring to Eskom’s decision to implement Stage 3 and later Stage 6 load shedding over the weekend due to the maintenance of power stations and the failure of multiple units.

According to Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramakgopa, power is likely to be fully restored before the end of the week.

Elon’s supposed tweet comes weeks after his internet satellite company Starlink withdrew its proposal to establish a license to operate. The company  – under its parent body SpaceX – reportedly handed in a written submission to the regulatory body ICASA to “rethink” its BEE legislature. 

Speaking to Bloomberg, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, later claimed that the government was halting Starlink’s proposal indefinitely due to rising tensions between Elon and US President Donald Trump regarding the SA government.

In recent weeks, Trump and the world’s richest man have questioned and criticised SA for “racial discrimination” against white South Africans.

Magwenya said: “If a leading business figure like Elon Musk harbours the kind of unprogressive, racist views that we’ve witnessed and the peddling of lies that we’ve been confronted with, then we’re not going to pursue having his investments.”

COMMUNITY NOTES WEIGH IN

On X, several high-profile users, like ANC-turned-MK Party member Mzwanele Manyi, retweeted the screenshot of Elon Musk’s supposed tweet.

However, a Community Notes edit quickly refuted the credibility of the tweet.

It read: “Run a simple search on X of @elonmusk’s tweets about Eskom right now. You’ll notice right away this tweet doesn’t exist. This is simply an edited image of a tweet with Elon’s X account included and used to give it credence”.

DO YOU THINK ELON MUSK HAS A RIGHT TO BE CRITICAL OF SA?

Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1.

Subscribe to The South African website’s newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.