South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied that his government is “confiscating lands from certain classes of people” as alleged by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The U.S. president had threatened to cut funding to the country until the matter was investigated.
On Monday, Trump said seizing lands from people by the South African government is a violation of their fundamental human rights.
The U.S. in 2023 provided nearly $440m in assistance to South Africa, the most recent U.S. government data showed. But Trump has promised to stop all future funding to the country.
“South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the radical left media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive human rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“The United States won’t stand for it; we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” he declared.
The development stems from Ramaphosa’s signing into law a bill that would make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the interest of the public.
The law, enacted last month, seeks to tackle racial differences in land ownership that have lasted for over three decades since the end of apartheid in 1994.
Responding to Trump’s comments, Ramaphosa said the country under his leadership remains democratic, promising to discuss with Trump to resolve the issue.
“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,” Ramaphosa said in a statement issued by the presidency.
“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,” he added.
South Africa’s foreign ministry also said in response to Trump’s post that “we trust President Trump’s advisers will make use of the investigative period to attain a thorough understanding of South Africa’s policies within the framework of constitutional democracy.
“It may become clear that our expropriation act is not exceptional, as many countries have similar legislation,” the ministry added.
Meanwhile, South Africa currently holds the G20 presidency, taking over from Brazil on December 1, 2024, and is expected to hand it over to the U.S. at the end of their tenure.
