Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk took to X on Friday with a provocative claim: South Africa now has more anti-white laws than it had anti-Black laws during apartheid. He called this "deeply wrong" and pushed for eliminating all race-based legislation entirely.

The South African-born billionaire quoted a post citing data from the South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR), a century-old organization founded in 1929 that tracks race-based legislation through its Index of Race Law.

Here's what the numbers say: According to the IRR Index, 324 racial acts of Parliament have been adopted in South Africa since 1910. Of these, 145 remain operative as of June, though nine have been deracialized. The institute also reports that 122 racial laws have been passed since 1994.

The IRR notes that South Africa's legal system treats people differently based on perceived race or skin color. Key legislation includes the 1998 Employment Equity Act and the 2003 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.

Not Everyone Buys The Data

But critics argue the IRR's methodology paints a misleading picture. William Shoki, editor of Africa Is a Country, called the approach "laughably broad" in the New York Times earlier this year.

Journalist Anton Harber pointed out in Daily Maverick that many laws in the data simply promote inclusivity or prohibit discrimination, while others are essentially dormant.

Musk, once a close ally of President Donald Trump, has echoed similar stances. Trump has repeatedly alleged a "white genocide" in South Africa—claims that South African officials flatly deny.

This isn't Musk's first rodeo criticizing his birth country. Earlier this year, after Trump signed an executive order cutting U.S. aid to South Africa, Musk called it a country with "racist ownership laws" and accused the government of failing to stop what he termed a "genocide" against white farmers.