Is South Africa ‘confiscating land’, targeting some groups as Trump claims?

South Africa’s president, Donald Trump, threatened to halt all funding for South Africa this week over what he claimed were Pretorian authorities’ illegal land grabs.
Trump’s assertion is grounded in the myth that white South Africans are the targets of unlawful land confiscations, something South Africa’s government has vehemently denied.
In a Sunday Truth Social post, Trump wrote that “South Africa is seizing land and treating some classes of people very badly.” “The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. I’ll also stop providing South Africa with any additional funding until a thorough investigation into this situation is finished.
In response, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa swiftly denied any government-sanctioned land seizures, saying on X: “The South African government has not confiscated any land”.
The Expropriation Act, a law passed in South Africa last month, was intended to address ownership disparities that had been the result of decades of racist apartheid rule. It is intended to assist the state in regaining land that is in the public interest.
Ramaphosa defended the law, arguing that it serves as a “confiscation instrument” to facilitate public access to land.
In a statement following Trump’s comments, Ramaphosa explained that South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public use of land with the protection of property owners’ rights.
South Africa’s constitutional democracy is deeply rooted in the principles of equality, justice, and rule of law. There is no land confiscated by the South African government.
The recently passed Expropriation Act is a constitutionally mandated legal instrument rather than a confiscation tool…
Elon Musk, a billionaire born in South Africa and Trump’s close aide, also made an argument during the discussion, blaming Ramaphosa’s administration for its “openly racist ownership laws,” while South Africa’s minister of mineral resources said South Africa should consider withholding mineral exports to the US.
So, what’s behind South Africa’s land policy, are certain groups really being targeted in the country, and why has Trump made these comments now? Here’s what to know:
What is land expropriation, and why is it happening?
Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act into law in January. In order to address racial disparities in ownership after apartheid in 1994, the state could ease its expropriation of some land.
South Africa’s government says the law does not allow it to expropriate property arbitrarily, and that the landowner must reach an agreement.
The government claims that the law allows for expropriation without compensation in circumstances that are “just and equitable and in the public interest” and that it “constitutionally mandates legal process.”
Land expert and South African lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi criticized the implementation of the Expropriation Act, calling it a legislative step to simplify the government’s access to land in the interest of the public.
“The hysteria about the Expropriation Act is mischievous”, he said, emphasising that the law does not allow for the land grabs as alleged.
Ngcukaitobi explained that the Act allows “nil compensation” for land that is deemed necessary for the good of the public, which might include land that isn’t used or posed a threat to the general public.
“The mischief has been the misrepresentation, as if]to say] expropriation has never happened and what the ANC wants to do is Zimbabwe-style land grabs, which is plainly not the case”, he said, referring to Ramaphosa’s party, the African National Congress.
Does the government unfairly discriminate against white South Africans?
Without providing any proof, Trump made the claim on Sunday that South Africa was “treating some classes of people very badly.” His repeated assertions that there were “large-scale killings” of white South African farmers were untrue recalled to his first administration, when Pretoria claimed Trump was lying.
AfriForum, a right-wing lobby group representing the interests of Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans, has lobbied Trump and the US Congress, alleging that property rights are under threat following the passage of the Expropriation Act.
The group has long sought right-leaning support in the US, spreading the myth that white landowners face unfair racial laws that could lead to property confiscation and that there is a widespread, politically motivated campaign against white farmers.
This also contributed to the myths that have repeatedly been refuted that there is currently a “white genocide” occurring in South Africa.
According to academics and researchers, claims that farm robberies and assaults are politically motivated are actually part of a larger global issue of violent crime in South Africa, one of the world’s most perilous nations, are debunked.
According to criminologist Professor Rudolph Zinn, “South Africa has a problem with violent crime,” noting that violent incidents don’t just happen on white-owned farms.
In light of Trump’s statements this week, AfriForum announced plans to lobby the US government to impose sanctions on ANC politicians, arguing that South African citizens shouldn’t have to bear the consequences of Trump’s statements. Many people contend that AfriForum’s dissemination of false information on this subject contributed to the formulation of Trump’s current opinion.

What is the history of South Africa’s land encroachment?
South Africa’s history is deeply connected to the brutal apartheid regime and the country’s post-colonial era, particularly the Black and Indigenous people.
The Natives Land Act of 1913, a crucial law, forbids Black South Africans from purchasing or renting land in designated “white South Africa,” leading to forced expulsion of indigenous populations.
Land should “belonged to all who live in it,” according to the Freedom Charter, a fundamental document created during the anti-apartheid struggle and the foundation of the current constitution. However, despite the end of apartheid, land inequality persists, with the majority of Black people still living in poverty.
Since the emergence of democracy in 1994, land reform debates have become more and more important in political discourse.
White South Africans make up a little over 7 percent of the population, according to the latest census. However, according to government data from 2017, they own more than 70% of the country’s privately held farmland.
The ongoing disparities in land ownership, which remain skewed largely in favour of a minority, have brought a need for reform and expropriation, experts say.
The narrative presented by Trump and his supporters is exacerbated by this long-standing context, which highlights an ongoing struggle for a more equitable distribution of land among South Africa’s diverse populations.

Why is South Africa’s land policy an issue for Trump now?
According to political analyst Ongama Mtimka, Trump’s statements may have been motivated by misinformation as well as a wider coercive foreign policy.
Trump “is either ignorant or well-informed, but he is manipulating sentiments to get the ANC to make its foreign policy decisions.” It is part of Trump’s coercive foreign policy strategy”, he said.
Trump has threatened to cut aid to South Africa as he has put in place harsh sanctions against nations like Canada and Mexico and suspended US Agency for International Development (USAID) funding for the next three months.
Mtimka claimed that Trump’s stance may have been influenced by South Africa’s decision to denounce Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its genocide in Gaza. “It definitely has something to do with it”, he said.
Trump has brought up the issue of allegedly attacking white South Africans before in this context. When he was president in 2018, he said on Twitter that he had directed his secretary of state at the time, Mike Pompeo, to look into “land and farm seizures” and “the large-scale killing of farmers” in South Africa.
Mtimka said he would not be surprised if Trump’s comments were influenced by his close adviser, Musk, who has long criticised South Africa’s government’s transformation policies.
In 2023, Musk accused Ramaphosa’s government of allowing a “genocide” to happen against white farmers.
Following Trump’s new comments, Musk added to the matter on Monday by replying to a post by Ramaphosa’s official account on X with the question: “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws”?
Since then, Ramaphosa’s office announced that the pair had a conversation “on issues of misinformation and distortions” about South Africa.
“In the process, the president reiterated South Africa’s constitutionality embedded values of the respect of the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality”, the South African Presidency said.

What do Trump’s statements mean for South Africa-US relations?
The South African government stated that it was eager to discuss the country’s land reform policy with the US and that it was committed to its constitutional democracy.
Ramaphosa added that he would speak up for Trump.
“We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters”, he said.
The response of South African Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe was more pointed, while Ramaphosa reacted with caution to Trump’s threat.
He suggested that South Africa should consider withholding its mineral exports to the US if the funding cap is lifted, speaking at a mining conference on Monday. This is significant, as South Africa exports a variety of minerals to the US, including platinum, iron and manganese.
In 2023, South Africa received about $440 million in aid from the US, according to a Reuters report. South Africa downplayed the effects of Trump’s plan to cut aid, claiming that there is no other significant funding provided by the US besides the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which Ramaphosa claimed only accounts for 17% of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programs.
Mtimka said while South Africa should not tolerate disrespect, it cannot believe it does not need the US as it is South Africa’s second-largest export partner. “Foolish radicalism is not going to do us much”, he said.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants significant amounts of South African goods duty-free access to the US market, benefits South Africa. The 2025 expiration date of AGOA is scheduled for September.
Source: Aljazeera
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