South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a swift response to US President Donald Trump’s threat that aid from that country could be withdrawn, owing to his view that South Africa’s recently enacted Expropriation Act is leading to the confiscation of land.
Following Trump’s comments, which were made initially on his Truth Social account and later reinforced in a brief television interview, the Presidency said the government had not confiscated any land.
It also underlined South Africa’s status as a “constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality”.
In the Truth Social post, Trump said: “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. 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!”
Then, in an impromptu interview regarding the possibility of cutting aid to other African countries, Trump indicated that his attention was solely on South Africa.
“No, it’s only South Africa. Terrible things are happening in South Africa. The leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things. So, that’s under investigation right now. We will make a determination [once] we find out what South Africa is doing.
He went on to say: “They’re taking away land, they’re confiscating land and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”
Trump’s warnings came amid a flurry of recent executive actions affecting foreign relations, including the announced imposition of 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and an additional 10% on Chinese imports.
Ramaphosa stressed that the country’s recently adopted Expropriation Act was not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensured public access to land “in an equitable and just manner as guided by the Constitution”.
“South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners.”
Ramaphosa said South Africa looked forward “to engaging with the Trump administration over its land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest”, and expressed optimism that these meetings would result in a better and common understanding.
It also stressed that the US remained a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa.
“With the exception of PEPFAR Aid, which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIV/Aids programme, there is no other significant funding that is provided by the United States in South Africa,” it added.
After Ramaphosa posted his response on X, Elon Musk, who grew up in South Africa and who has voiced his opposition to both the Expropriation Act and South Africa’s black economic empowerment policies, posted the following on the platform that he also owns: “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?”
Musk is also heading Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, and has called for the closure of the US Agency for International Development , which is the implementing agency for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
Later this year, South Africa will host the G20 meeting in Johannesburg and will be handing over the presidency to the US. There is currently still an expectation that President Trump will attend the meeting.
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