Trump to cut off future aid to South Africa over alleged land confiscation

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is cutting future funding to South Africa over alleged land confiscation and mistreatment of "certain classes of people."

"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," he said on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said the US will halt all funding to the country until a thorough investigation into the matter is completed.

"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!" he wrote.

Later, in a briefing with journalists, Trump said that South Africa's "leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things" without giving examples.

"So 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."

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.

Pretoria argues the bill does not allow the government to expropriate property arbitrarily and must first seek to reach an agreement with the owner.

Contentious issue

Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa, with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid.

Since then, land courts have adjudicated on a handful of land disputes and, after exhaustive processes, returned land to previously displaced owners.

According to the South African government, the 1913 Natives Land Act saw thousands of Black families forcibly removed from their land by the apartheid regime.

___

Source: TRT