Staff Writer 
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South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa defended laws aimed at uplifting the country’s Black majority and said he is “baffled” by suggestions that they are stifling economic growth.
The so-called empowerment laws have been central to a fallout between Ramaphosa and his US counterpart Donald Trump and his Pretoria-born billionaire backer Elon Musk, who say they are racist and unfairly prejudice White citizens. They have also spread the false conspiracy theory that White Afrikaner farmers have been subjected to a genocide — an allegation South Africa says is totally unfounded.
