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On Sunday, Trump wrote on the social networks Truth Social: “I will be cutting all future funds for South Africa until a complete investigation of this situation has been completed!”
He later said, in an informative session with journalists, that “South Africa leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things.”
“So that is under investigation at this time. We will make a determination, and until the moment we discover what South Africa is doing: they are removing land and confiscating land, and they are actually doing things that may be far worse than that” .
South Africa International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said in an X answer that he expected Trump’s advisors to use “this investigation period to deepen their understanding of South Africa’s policies as a constitutional democracy.”
“These ideas will ensure a respectful and informed approach to our democratic commitments,” he added.
The United States allocated around $ 440 million (£ 358 million) in assistance to South Africa in 2023, according to data from the United States government.
The South African government says that the new law does not allow arbitrary land seizures, since it must first try to reach an agreement with the owner.
The president’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya said last month that the State “cannot expropriate the property arbitrarily or for a purpose that is not … in public interest.”
He says that the current system of “seller arranged, buyer” has allowed white farmers to delay the agrarian reform process.
However, some critics have expressed their fear that the law may have disastrous consequences such as Zimbabwe, where land seizures destroyed the economy and scared investors.
