US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order halting financial help to South Africa, following a threat earlier this week.
Trump stated that he issued the order in response to South Africa’s new land law, which he claims violates people’s rights, as well as an international court case charging Israel with genocide.
It deepens a conflict between the two countries about a week after Trump threatened to cancel aid without providing evidence, claiming that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that “certain classes of people” are being treated “very badly.”.
Elon Musk, Trump’s close adviser who was born in South Africa, also criticised Ramaphosa on X, questioning why he had “openly racist ownership laws.”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has not yet responded, but he previously defended South Africa’s land policy following Trump’s threat on Sunday.
He stated that the government had not confiscated any land and that the policy was designed to provide equal public access to land.
Ramaphosa passed a law last month that permits land seizures without compensation in certain instances.
Land ownership has always been a difficult topic in South Africa, with white people owning the majority of private farms even 30 years after apartheid was abolished.
There have been ongoing requests for the government to address land reform and the historical injustices of racial segregation.
South Africa’s new law allows for expropriation without compensation only if it is “just, equitable, and in the public interest.”
This includes when the property is not in use and there is no intention of developing or profiting from it, or when it poses a risk to people.
The decision stated that the US “cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country” and that the US will not grant aid or assistance as long as it “continues these unjust and immoral practices.”.
The White House stated that Washington will also develop a strategy to resettle South African farmers and their families as refugees.
It stated that US officials will prioritise humanitarian relief, such as admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa, who are largely white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers.
The executive order also mentions South Africa’s role in taking genocide claims against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The order said, “In addition, South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the ICJ and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”
