US President Donald Trump has announced that he will be cut off all future funding to South Africa, accusing the country of “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly.”
The decision comes amid controversy over the South African government’s land expropriation policy, which Trump has demanded be fully investigated.
The issue of land redistribution has been contentious in South Africa, with efforts to address historical inequality under apartheid drawing strong criticism from conservative figures, including South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, a close adviser to Trump.
The new law, signed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month, allows for the government to expropriate land with “nil compensation” in cases deemed to be in the public interest.
On Sunday, Trump voiced his concerns 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!”
The South African government has defended the bill, arguing that it does not allow arbitrary expropriation but mandates efforts to negotiate with property owners before any expropriation takes place.
Later, Trump elaborated on his concerns during a briefing with journalists, stating: “South Africa’s leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things,” without providing specific examples.
He added, “That’s under investigation right now. We’ll make a determination, and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing – they’re taking away land and confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”
Ramaphosa signed into law the Expropriation Bill which repeals the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975 and sets out how organs of State may expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons.
Section 25 of the Constitution recognises expropriation as an essential mechanism for the state to acquire someone’s property for a public purpose or in the public interest, subject to just and equitable compensation being paid.
The bill assented to by president Ramaphosa outlines how expropriation can be done and on what basis. This law will assist all organs of State – local, provincial and national authorities – to expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons, the government said.
The bill repeals the Expropriation Act and provide a common framework in line with the Constitution to guide the processes and procedures for expropriation of property by organs of state.
In terms of this law, an expropriating authority may not expropriate property arbitrarily or for a purpose other than a public purpose or in the public interest.
Expropriation may not be exercised unless the expropriating authority has without success attempted to reach an agreement with the owner or holder of a right in property for the acquisition thereof on reasonable terms.
An expropriating authority is obliged to enter into negotiations with the owner of a property required for such purposes, the government said.
“An expropriating authority must also attempt to reach an agreement on the acquisition of the property before resorting to expropriation – except in circumstances where the right to use property temporarily is taken on an urgent basis in terms of a provision in the legislation.”
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The law provides for disputes to be referred for mediation or to appropriate courts.