Last month, South Africa adopted a bill for the state to expropriate land to address racial disparities in land ownership after apartheid.
South Africa has refuted that it is “confiscating” land unfairly, an accusation that United States President Donald Trump made, adding he plans to cut all funding for the country.
Trump on Sunday accused the South African government of “confiscating land” and treating “certain classes of people” badly, without elaborating or providing evidence.
The US president had already announced a temporary freeze on almost all foreign assistance as part of his “America First” agenda, pausing billions of dollars in global funding.
South Africa adopted a bill for the state to expropriate land to address racial disparities in ownership.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump stated: “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
Later, in a briefing with journalists, he accused South Africa’s leadership, without providing evidence or details, of doing “some terrible things, horrible things”.
In response, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said, “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 a constitutional democracy.
“It may become clear that our expropriation act is not exceptional, as many countries have similar legislation,” it added.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also denied that the government is confiscating land.
“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.
“South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality.”
President Ramaphosa added that, except for the US Aid programme for AIDS relief – PEPFAR, no other significant funding is provided to South Africa by the US.
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.
The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal…
— Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa) February 3, 2025
Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa but is now closely allied to Trump, replied to Ramaphosa, writing, without providing evidence: “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?”
Last month, Ramaphosa signed a bill into law that would make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest to address racial disparities in land ownership after apartheid in 1994.
According to the government, the bill does not allow it to expropriate property arbitrarily; the landowner must reach an agreement.
