There's nothing sinister about speaking directly to businesspeople like Musk - Ramaphosa

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa said there's nothing sinister about him speaking directly to businesspeople like US tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Ramaphosa was slammed in the National Assembly on Tuesday afternoon by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema for interactions with South Africa-born Musk, who is now US President Donald Trump's head of government efficiency. 

Acknowledging his recent interactions with Musk, Ramaphosa said in reply that it was not unusual for him to engage with a variety of people and not only through diplomatic channels.

Malema thinks President Ramaphosa should not be entertaining Musk at all, accusing him of also sidelining his international relations minister, Ronald Lamola, by speaking directly to Musk.

Musk has called for sanctions against Malema for his rhetoric against white people and said he should be declared an international criminal.

"Unrepentant racist, became emboldened and then made more bad remarks even after meeting you physically."

But Ramaphosa said that whether Malema liked it or not, Musk is an influential figure and he had a duty to correct mischaracterisation about the country.

He told the House he met with Musk at his hotel in New York during the United Nations General Assembly last year and again confirmed that he spoke to him over the phone in February after the US started freezing aid to South Africa over falsehoods that government was expropriating land.

"There’s nothing sinister about the various discussions that we hold with a variety of people."

Ramaphosa said on Tuesday he was hugely disappointed by AfriForum's actions in the US and said he deemed them unpatriotic.