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By Akuma Ruth Chidimma
United States President, Donald Trump, has criticised land policy being implemented in South Africa and threatened to cut off future funding to the country.
Trump said South Africa is “confiscating” land and “treating certain groups of people very badly.”
Join our WhatsApp ChannelHe said all future funding to the country from the United States will stop until an investigation is completed.
The land ownership issue in South Africa has been a controversial one for a long time. Efforts to fix the inequalities from the time of white rule have faced criticism from American conservatives, including Elon Musk, the richest person in the world. Musk, who is currently a key adviser to Trump administration, was born in South Africa.
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Last month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill that allows the government to take land without paying for it in certain situations if it’s for the public good.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY.”
He added, “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
The South African government argued that the bill does not let them take land without reason and that they must try to negotiate with the property owner first.
However, some groups have expressed worry that this could lead to a situation akin to what happened in Zimbabwe, where the government of Robert Mugabe took white-owned farms without compensation shortly after gaining independence in 1980.
Later, while speaking to reporters, Trump stated that South Africa’s “leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things,” but he did not provide specific examples.
The 47th president who was recently sworn in, mentioned that the matter is already under investigation. “We’ll make a determination, and until we find out what South Africa is doing — they’re taking away land and confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that,” Trump added.
