US president Donald Trump has announced that he is stopping all federal funding to South Africa over the controversial land appropriation law. He also offered asylum with rapid citizenship to farmers seeking to leave South Africa, with immediate effect.
In a post on his Truth Social, Trump said that South Africa is a bad place to be right now. He accused the South African govt of confiscating lands and farmers of the farmers.
Trump posted, “South Africa is being terrible, plus, to long time Farmers in the country. They are confiscating their LAND and FARMS, and MUCH WORSE THAN THAT. A bad place to be right now, and we are stopping all Federal Funding. To go a step further, any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to Citizenship. This process will begin immediately!”
Trump is referring to South Africa’s controversial land expropriation law which he has termed as rights violation against the white minority in the African country. The law allows the South African government to expropriate land from private parties if it’s in the public interest and allows for expropriation without compensation. The Act aims to address historical land ownership disparities resulting from apartheid-era policies.
The legislation has sparked significant controversy both domestically and internationally. Domestically, the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s second-largest political party and a member of the ruling coalition, has challenged the law’s constitutionality in court, arguing that it violates property rights and could negatively impact the economy.
Donald Trump alleges that this law targets lands owned by farmers from the white minority Afrikaner group, who are descended from Dutch and other European colonial settlers.
