Land Tussle: Ramaphosa To Meet Trump Over Funding Cut Threat

The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said he would meet with President Donald Trump to address the threat of funding cut.

Naija News reports that the United States President, Trump, on Sunday, on his Truth social media, accused South Africa leaders of committing human rights abuse. He said the country’s land law was very bad.

Trump stated that all funding to South Africa would be cut off until an investigation is concluded on the land law.

“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people very badly . It is a bad situation that the radical left media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights violation, at a minimum, is happening for all to see.

“The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed,” he wrote.

In a statement on Monday morning, President Ramaphosa explained that the Expropriation Act was enacted to ensure equity and justice in land ownership in the country.

“South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land.

“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution.

“South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners.

“We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest. We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters.

“The US remains a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa. With the exception of PEPFAR Aid, which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIVAids programme, there is no other funding that is received by South Africa from the United States,” he said.