US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to terminate all forthcoming financial assistance to South Africa due to accusations of land confiscation and the alleged mistreatment of specific groups of individuals.
Recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa enacted legislation permitting land expropriation without compensation under specific conditions.
Land ownership remains a divisive topic in South Africa, as a significant portion of agricultural land continues to be held by white individuals, three decades following the conclusion of the apartheid regime.
There have been ongoing demands for the government to tackle land reform and rectify the historical injustices stemming from racial segregation.
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On Sunday, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” He added ‘We’ll make a determination, and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing — they’re taking away land and confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”
In response, Cyril Ramaphosa wrote on his X handle “South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land,”
Also, Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and is now a Trump adviser, joined in the debate, saying on his X handle “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?”
The US allocated about $440m (£358m) in assistance to South Africa in 2023, according to US government data. With the current development, Trump may likely cut off access to these funds.
