South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has replied to US President Donald Trump’s threat to cut funding to the African nation after accusing it of “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly.”
In a post on X on Monday, Ramaphosa said the South African government has not confiscated any land.
“South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice, and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land.
The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures 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.
We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest. We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters.
The US remains a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa. With the exception of PEPFAR Aid, which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIVAids programme, there is no other funding that is received by South Africa from the United States.” President Cyril Ramaphosa tweeted on Monday.
On Sunday, Trump announced he was cutting off all future funding to the country pending an investigation.
The US President made the statement on his Truth Social platform.
“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 future funding to South Africa until a full investigation into the situation has been completed,” Trump said.
