The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, says his government’s land policy is in the interest of citizens and does not warrant official criticism from the US.
He made this statement in a post on X on Monday in response to President Donald Trump’s threat to cut funding to the country,
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The US President had earlier said he would cut off all future funding to South Africa due to poor treatment of “certain classes of people.”
According to him, South Africa is seizing land and mistreating some of its citizens without concerns about the violations of their rights.
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President Trump referred to the recently adopted expropriation act, which allowed the South African government to seize land without compensation.
The policy was initiated to help the government accelerate its efforts to address the disparity in land ownership caused by apartheid rule.
However, President Trump said, “The United States won’t stand for it.”
“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 added.
Land expropriation policy legal
However, the South African president insisted that the expropriation act was constitutional.
Mr Ramaphosa said that the act is a legal process that allows equitable access to land and addresses historical disparities.
He said, “South Africa is a constitutional democracy deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice, and equality.
“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.”
He said South Africa adopted the laws to balance land use and protect property rights as obtainable in the United States of America and other countries.
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He said the goal is to protect “the need for public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners.”
Mr Ramaphosa, however, noted that the country is looking 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.”
He further stated that external aid from the US is significantly less than the country’s domestic funding.
“With the exception of PEPFAR Aid, which constitutes 17 per cent of South Africa’s HIV/Aids programme, there is no other significant funding that is provided by the United States in South Africa,” he said.
Rather, he noted, the US is a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa.
