Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has threatened to stop funding South Africa in the future for confiscating property and “treating certain classes of people very badly” while an investigation is conducted.
South Africa’s land issue has long been contentious, and conservatives, including Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and a Trump adviser, have criticized attempts to address the inequity of white domination. Musk was born in South Africa.
A bill passed last month by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa states that the government may, under specific conditions, provide “nil compensation” for property it chooses to expropriate in the public interest.
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
“I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed,” he added.
The South African government contends that the bill requires consent from the owner before the government can take property without cause.
Following Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the government seized commercial farms owned by white people, frequently without providing compensation. This situation is feared by some groups.
Trump later said, without providing examples, that South Africa’s “leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things” at a briefing with journalists.
“So that’s under investigation right now. We’ll make a determination, and until such time as 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.”
Contentious Land Seizure Law in South Africa
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has been at odds with some members of his government since he signed a bill last month, January 2025, that permits the state to seize land without paying compensation.
Although the racist system of apartheid ended more than 30 years ago, the majority of farmland in the country is still owned by white people, with black people owning only a small portion of it. This led to discontent and anger about the slow pace of transformation.
Ramaphosa’s ANC party praised the law as a “significant milestone” in the nation’s transformation, but some coalition government members say they may protest it in court.
According to the government, the law “outlines how expropriation can be done and on what basis” by the state and replaces the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975, which required the state to compensate landowners it wished to take from under the “willing seller, willing buyer” principle.
The new law allows for expropriation without compensation only in cases when it is “just and equitable and in the public interest” to do so.
This includes if the property is not being used and there’s no purpose to either develop or create money from it or when it poses a risk to people.
According to Vincent Magwenya, the president’s spokesperson, the state “may not expropriate property arbitrarily or for a purpose other than… in the public interest” as permitted by law.
The bill was signed following a five-year consultation process and the conclusions of a presidential group that was established to investigate the matter.