WASHINGTON, FEB 3 (AFP/APP/DNA):US President Donald Trump on Sunday asserted South Africa was “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly” as he announced he was cutting off all future funding to the country pending an investigation.
The land issue in South Africa is divisive, with efforts to redress the inequality of white-rule drawing criticism from conservatives including Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and is a powerful Trump adviser.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month signed a bill that stipulates the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to expropriate in the public interest.
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” Trump wrote.
Pretoria argues the bill does not allow the government to expropriate property arbitrarily and must first seek to reach agreement with the owner.
However, some groups fear a situation similar to the Zimbabwe government’s seizure of white-owned commercial farms, often without compensation, after independence in 1980.
Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid.
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