South Africa’s President Fires Back at Trump’s False Claim of Land Seizures
New York Times1 day
Trump Threatens to Cut South African Aid Over Land 'Confiscations'
story
Above: US Pres. Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Feb. 3, 2025. Image copyright: Chris Kleponis/Contributor/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Facts
US Pres. Donald Trump on Sunday said that he will cut off all future US assistance to South Africa until a full investigation into alleged land confiscations and human rights violations related to the country's new land law is completed.
His South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, responded Monday that the Expropriation Act — signed into law last month — was no confiscation instrument but rather a legal process to ensure equitable and just public access to land in accordance with the constitution.
This comes as the new law, which replaces an apartheid-era legislation, departed from the "willing seller, willing buyer" principle to allow the government to expropriate private property in the public interest — without compensation when land is unused or abandoned, or when it poses a risk to the public
The Spin
Right narrative
Whether you like Trump or not, he's right about what's going on in South Africa. The Expropriation Act is an unconstitutional confiscatory law that allows the government to take private property without compensation. Patriotic South Africans must celebrate a powerful ally stepping in to protect their rights.
Left narrative
Trump is again promoting far-right conspiracy theories about White South Africans being deprived of their rights and persecuted with the complicity and participation of the local government. Every country has similar laws to balance private property rights and the public good — including the US.
