The US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday halting aid to South Africa over its new expropriation law seizing the property of its minorities.
The executive order states the act to be following “countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, claims the Expropriation Act as a ‘constitutionally mandated legal process’ ensuring public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution.
The rift between Trump’s administration and Pretoria escalated over the controversial land expropriation law passed in January aimed at tackling inequality stemming from apartheid.
Trump earlier on Sunday warned South Africa of slashing its funds due to its land policy. He wrote on Truth Social, “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
Addressing the issue, Ramaphosa on Monday wrote on X, “We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest. We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters.”
“The US remains a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa. With the exception of PEPFAR Aid, which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIVAids programme, there is no other funding that is received by South Africa from the United States,” he added.
In a parliamentary address on Thursday, which seemed to target Trump, Ramaphosa stated that his country would remain united despite the growing “pursuit of narrow interests” and the “decline of common cause.” “We will not be deterred. We are a resilient people. We will not be bullied,” he said.
In addition to the expropriation land policy, South Africa’s geopolitical stance—accusing the U.S. ally Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements—has also been cited as a reason for the order.
“The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its ‘undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” the order read.
The US President through the order mentioned that the measures taken by the US will continue as “South Africa continues these unjust and immoral practices that harm our Nation”
Furthermore, the ‘resettlement’ of ‘Afrikaner refugees’ escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation will be promoted by the US until the unjust order is taken back.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he would skip the upcoming G20 talks in Johannesburg, citing the legislation and other “very bad things” happening in the country as reasons for his decision.
Land ownership is a controversial issue in South Africa due to the legacy of apartheid. Although Black South Africans comprise over 80% of the population, they own only 4% of privately held farmland.
White South Africans, who make up approximately 7% of the population and include Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Dutch settlers and English-speaking descendants of British colonialists, own around three-quarters of the land.
