South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to cut funding to South Africa, following Trump’s accusations that the country was “confiscating” land and mistreating certain groups of people.
On Sunday, Trump announced that he would halt all future funding to South Africa until an investigation into the situation is conducted. He posted on Truth Social, stating, “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people very badly. I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
Later, during a press briefing, Trump described South Africa’s leadership as engaging in “terrible things” and “horrible things,” though he did not provide specific examples to support his claims.
According to newsmen, the land issue in South Africa has long been divisive, with efforts to redress the inequality of white-rule drawing criticism from conservatives including the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and is a powerful Trump adviser.
It noted that last month, Ramaphosa signed a bill that stipulates the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to expropriate in the public interest.
Pretoria argues the bill does not allow the government to expropriate property arbitrarily and must first seek to reach an agreement with the owner.
