CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke with Donald Trump’s “influential” billionaire adviser Elon Musk a day after the new U.S. president promised to cut funding for South Africa over a land expropriation law, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said Wednesday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa faces criticism for allegedly breaching diplomatic protocols after a phone call with Elon Musk regarding the Expropriation Act, raising concerns about South Africa’s sovereignty.

South Africans are unhappy with President Cyril Ramaphosa after he phoned Elon Musk to discuss recent claims made by the Tesla owner and Donald Trump's threats.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken with Elon Musk to discuss “issues of misinformation and distortions about South Africa,” according to a statement shared on Tuesday (Feb. 4). “In the process,

President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke with Elon Musk after the South African-born billionaire joined President Donald Trump in criticizing the country’s new land-expropriation law.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday he spoke with billionaire and ally of US President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, to “reinforce" Musk's understanding of the nation’s Expropriation Act. Trump has threatened to cut funding to South Africa over alleged land confiscations.

Mr Musk is a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, who on Sunday threatened to cut all future funding to South Africa over allegations that it was confiscating land and "treating certain classes of people very badly". The South Africa-born tech billionaire joined in the criticism asking on X why Ramaphosa had "openly racist ownership laws".