Stacy
The President of the US, Donald Trump, has said that he will stop giving funding to South Africa in the future claiming that certain groups are being mistreated and their lands confiscated. His remarks come in response to the signing of a very contentious bill by the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, last month that permits land expropriation without any compensation in some cases.
In South Africa, land ownership is still a sensitive subject thirty years after the end of apartheid with most of the farmland being owned by white people. The government has continued efforts to deal with historical land injustices. This new law is intended to hasten land reform processes, however, due to its impact on the economy, it has raised the same fears that were felt during the Zimbabwe land grabs that resulted in economic collapse.
Trump proclaimed on the social media platform Truth Social, ”I will cut off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
He then condemned South Africa’s leadership by saying they are doing far more “terrible things” with South Africa’s land than doing with the economy.
In response, South Africa’s International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola called for Trump’s advisers to better understand the country’s democratic commitments, highlighting that the new law does not permit arbitrary land seizures. Under the law, the government is required to reach an agreement with landowners before expropriating property, and land seizures are meant to serve the public interest.
The US allocated approximately $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, but Trump’s announcement threatens to withdraw these funds pending an investigation into the country’s land reform practices.
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Kathy
Olivia
