South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has responded on February 3 to US President Donald Trump’s recent comments, refuting claims that the country is seizing land without compensation.
In a post on X, Ramaphosa underlined that South Africa is a constitutional democracy, committed to the rule of law, justice, and equality, and that no land has been confiscated. He also clarified that the US’s financial support to South Africa is primarily through the health programme Pepfar, which funds 17% of the nation’s HIV/AIDS efforts, with around $440 million (£358 million) allocated in 2023.
The controversy began when Trump, in a post on Truth Social, threatened to cut all future funding to South Africa until an investigation into the country’s land policy is completed. Trump accused South Africa of “taking away land” and warned that their actions may be even worse than those in Zimbabwe, where land seizures caused economic turmoil. In response, Elon Musk, a South African-born US business magnate, also entered the debate, criticising the new land law, which allows for expropriation without compensation if it is deemed just, equitable, and in the public interest. Musk specifically labelled the law as discriminatory against white landowners.
Land ownership has been a deeply contentious issue in South Africa since the apartheid era, with a legacy of racial segregation and forced removals under the 1913 Natives Land Act. The new expropriation law aims to accelerate land reform by enabling the government to take land in cases where it is not being used or poses a risk to public safety. While the government argues the law is necessary for justice, critics fear it could have disastrous effects, as seen in Zimbabwe. AfriForum, a group defending South Africa’s white Afrikaner interests, has called for changes to the law to protect property rights while also rejecting Trump’s threat to cut funding.