Donald Trump accuses South Africa of land 'confiscation', halts funding

"South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he is cutting off all future funding to South Africa, accusing the country of "confiscating" land and mistreating "certain classes of people." The suspension of funding will remain in place until a full investigation is conducted, Trump stated.

"South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "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 recently passed legislation allowing, under specific circumstances, the expropriation of land without compensation. President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the bill last month, arguing it addresses historical land injustices rooted in the apartheid era. Pretoria maintains that the bill does not authorize arbitrary expropriation and that attempts must be made to reach an agreement with landowners before action is taken.

The move has drawn criticism from conservative circles, with fears that South Africa could follow in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, where the government seized white-owned commercial farms without compensation in the early 2000s, leading to economic collapse.

Trump reiterated his concerns during a press briefing, stating, "South Africa's leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things," though he did not provide specific examples. "They're taking away land and confiscating land, and actually, they're doing things that are perhaps far worse than that."

Land ownership remains a divisive issue in South Africa, where, nearly three decades after the end of apartheid, most farmland is still owned by white individuals. The 1913 Natives Land Act forcibly removed thousands of Black families from their land, and since apartheid's fall, the government has attempted to redress these imbalances through legal means.

The right-wing backlash has been fueled by prominent figures like Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person and a powerful Trump adviser. Musk, born in Pretoria in 1971, has publicly criticized South Africa’s land reform policies. In 2023, Musk responded to a video of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party singing the anti-apartheid song "Kill the Boer," claiming, "They are openly pushing for genocide of white people in South Africa," and questioned President Ramaphosa’s silence on the issue.

Other influential Trump allies with ties to southern Africa include David Sacks, recently appointed as Trump’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar, and billionaire Peter Thiel, a PayPal co-founder who spent part of his youth in Namibia when it was under South African control.

The South African embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The U.S. obligated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, according to the most recent government data.

South Africa currently holds the G20 presidency, a role that will transition to the US after its term. Despite Trump’s remarks, President Ramaphosa expressed confidence in the bilateral relationship, stating last month that he was "not worried" about ties with Trump and had spoken to him following his election victory.

During his first term, Trump ordered an investigation into unverified reports of large-scale killings of white farmers in South Africa, though Pretoria dismissed the claims as misinformation. It remains unclear whether any investigation was completed.

The funding suspension and Trump’s rhetoric are expected to strain U.S.-South Africa relations further, especially as Pretoria navigates its land reform efforts amid domestic and international scrutiny.