South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday rejected assertions made by his US counterpart Donald Trump a day prior.
Trump, without citing evidence, claimed that “certain classes of people” are being treated “very badly” in South Africa and that Ramaphosa’s government was confiscating their property. As a result, Trump said the US would end all funding for the country.
It appears that Trump’s comments were referring to a law signed by Ramaphosa last month, which Trump claimed offered “nil compensation” for property seized by the government.
Originally introduced as a bill in 2020, the law was intended as a mechanism to review the apartheid-era Expropriation Act of 1975 and align it with the current constitution.
Trump leveled similar claims in 2018, saying white farmers were being run off their land and killed.
South Africa’s fraught attempts to redress the injustice of apartheid
Speaking of South Africa’s land reform policy, Ramaphosa said, “The South African government has not confiscated any land (….) The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument.”
The South African government says the bill does not allow it to arbitrarily expropriate land, adding that it must first seek to reach agreement with its owners.
Writing on the social media platform X, Ramaphosa described the bill as a, “constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” adding, “We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest.”
Three decades after the collapse of South Africa’s racist apartheid government in 1994, land ownership remains a contentious issue, with most farm property in the country still owned by whites.
What did Trump and his top advisor Elon Musk say?
“Terrible things are happening in South Africa,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media account. “The leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things. So that’s under investigation right now.”
“It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention,” the statement continued. “A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
The thorny path toward redressing the historical injustices of the apartheid system has been opposed by many conservatives and right-wing commentators. Elon Musk, who grew up in apartheid South Africa and has amplified such voices, is one of those calling out Ramaphosa.
A key policy shaping member of Trump’s inner circle, the world’s richest man used his account on X — which he owns — to attack Ramaphosa’s policies as “openly racist.”
What aid does the US give to South Africa?
Ramaphosa on Monday said, “the US remains a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa.”
But, he added, beyond providing assistance for South Africa’s PEPFAR anti-HIV/Aids initiative, “there is no other significant funding that is provided by the United States in South Africa.” That aid funds 17% of the initiative according to the government in Pretoria.
South Africa’s currency, the rand, fell roughly 2% against the US dollar in the wake of Trump’s comments, with South African stocks and its benchmark government bond taking a hit as well.
South Africa will also feel the impact of USAID shuttering
South Africa has one of the largest HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis treatment programs in the world, with 5.5 million people receiving anti-retroviral treatment each month.
DW South Africa correspondent Dianne Hawker says that while most medication is provided by the government, many clinics rely on funds from USAID and PEPFAR to pay for staffing costs. Some clinics, run by local NGOs and funded by USAID, also provide different types of prophylactic treatment such as PREP, which is not available in government clinics.
Elon Musk on Sunday announced that his “Department of Government Efficiency” would shut down USAID, calling it “a criminal organization.” On Monday he said the move had met approval from Donald Trump.
In fiscal year 2023, USAID disbursed $72 billion (€70.2 billion) in global assistance for everything from women’s health in conflict zones to access to clean water, HIV/AIDS treatments and anti-corruption work. In 2024, it provided 42% of all humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations.
One last provocation — BRICS
DW correspondent Hawker also points out that Trump is likely irked by South Africa’s status as a member of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), an international alliance that has earned his ire. The BRICS group has suggested abandoning the US dollar as a primary trade currency but has not yet taken that step.
The group is also growing as a potential counterweight to the US, having added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates in 2024, something that no doubt displeases the US leader.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
