US President Donald Trump has frozen aid to South Africa over the country’s controversial land expropriation law, which allows the government to seize land without compensation.
The law, signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa last December, which sought to address the legacy of apartheid-era land ownership inequalities, has faced fierce backlash locally and internationally.
In an executive order issued Friday, Trump called the Expropriation Act a “shocking disregard” for citizens’ rights. Trump said he was worried that the law would allow the government to seize land from the ethnic minority Afrikaners without compensation, increasing racial tensions and leading to violence.
“This law allows the government to take land from white people without paying them for it,” Trump said, adding that Pretoria fosters “hateful rhetoric” and actions that drive violence against “racially disfavoured” landowners.
The law, which gives the government the right to expropriate land in the public interest, is one of the more contentious issues. It permits the state to appropriate unused or unproductive land but only after attempting to reach an agreement with the owner.
President Ramaphosa has defended the law, insisting that it was part of a “constitutionally mandated legal process” in place to make right the historical ownership imbalances in land. “It will ensure public access to land in an equitable and just manner,” he said, stressing how it would right the injustices of the apartheid era.
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However, President Trump has persisted in criticising the move not only as a violation of property rights but also as a threat to U.S. foreign policy; he cited South Africa’s increasingly close ties with Iran and its criticism of Israel, accusing Pretoria of undermining U.S. interests.
“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,” Trump said.
Ramaphosa, in turn, came out defiantly, saying to the South African parliament, “We are a resilient people. We will not be deterred,” vowing not to be “bullied” by foreign powers.
The land expropriation law also divided opinion even within South Africa, with opposition party the DA staunchly opposing the legislation, arguing that it would threaten property rights and dissuade foreign investment.
Notwithstanding these criticisms, the government is pushing ahead with the reform, looking to redress the historical imbalance which saw Black South Africans, who comprise more than 80% of the population, owning just 4% of privately owned farmland.
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