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Donald Trump said Sunday, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that “certain classes of people” were being treated “very bad.”
Secretary of State of the United States Marco Rubio.
The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, will not attend a next G20 meeting in South Africa, said the best American diplomat on Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump threatened to cut funds to the African country. South Africa will organize a meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 countries from February 20 to 21 in Johannesburg. South Africa has the presidency of the G20 from December 2024 to November 2025.
Trump said Sunday, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that “certain kinds of people” were being treated “very bad.” He said he would reduce the funds until the matter was investigated.
President Cyril Ramaphosa defended the land policy of South Africa after Trump’s threat, saying that the Government had not confiscated any land and that the policy aimed to guarantee equitable public access to the land.
“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriation of private property. Use of G20 to promote “solidarity, equality and sustainability. In other words: Dei and climate change,” Rubio said in his publication about X, without giving details.
Trump has complained about South Africa’s land policy. The billionaire born in South Africa Elon Musk, which is close to Trump, also accused South Africa, without evidence, of having “openly racist property laws”, which suggests that whites were the victims.
The issue of land ownership is highly politically accused in South Africa due to the legacy of the colonial times and apartheid when blacks were dispossessed of their lands and denied property rights.
White landowners still have three quarters of the farmland owned by South Africa. This contrasts with 4% owned by black people, representing 80% of the population compared to approximately 8% for whites, according to the last 2017 land audit.
Partly in an effort to repair this imbalance, Ramaphosa signed a law last month allowing the State to expropriate “public interest” land.
The Trump administration has tried to dismantle programs for diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the United States government. The rights groups say that the programs ofi help deal with the inequities faced by marginalized groups. Trump calls Dei Anti-Mérito.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a FEED -Reuters Union News Agency)
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Washington DC, United States of America (USA)
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