South African president confirms no land has been confiscated by the government
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa defended itself on Monday against attacks on its land expropriation policy by Donald Trump after the U.S. president said he would cut off funding to the country over the issue.
Trump said on Sunday, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly”.
“I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” he said.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government had not confiscated any land, and he looked forward to engaging with Trump to foster a better understanding over the matter.
The United States committed nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, the most recent U.S. government data showed. The lion’s share of the sum, $315 million, was for HIV/AIDS.
Ramaphosa said U.S. funding accounted for 17% of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programme but it was reliant on “no other significant funding” from the United States.
The president signed into law a bill last month to make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, aiming to address racial disparities in land ownership that persist three decades after the end of apartheid in 1994.
“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” the presidency said.
The question of land reform is highly politically charged in South Africa due to the legacy of the colonial and apartheid eras, when Black people were dispossessed of their lands and denied property rights.
