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Saturday 08 Feb 2025
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US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to cut financial assistance to South Africa.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to cut financial assistance to South Africa, the White House said, citing its genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Washington's ally Israel, and disapproval of the country's recent change to land policy.
"As long as South Africa continues to support bad actors on the world stage and allows violent attacks on innocent disfavoured minority farmers, the United States will stop aid and assistance to the country," the White House said in a summary of the order on Friday.
Washington has complained about the case brought by South Africa at ICJ, where it has accused Israel of genocide over Tel Aviv's 15-month-long carnage in Gaza that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The White House cited that case as an example of South Africa taking positions against Washington and its allies.
Trump has also condemned the African nation's land policy. The White House said on Friday that Washington will formulate a plan to resettle South African farmers and their families as refugees.
It said US officials will take steps to prioritise humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Programme for Afrikaners in South Africa, who are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers.
South Africa 'will not be bullied'
Trump has said, without citing evidence, that "South Africa is confiscating land" and that "certain classes of people" were treated "very badly".
South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, has said that white South Africans have been the victims of "racist ownership laws."
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended the policy. He has said the government had not confiscated any land and the policy was aimed at evening out racial disparities in land ownership.
Ramaphosa said South Africa "will not be bullied."
Trump had threatened to cut off funding for South Africa soon after taking office.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also said he would skip upcoming G20 talks in South Africa, accusing the host government of having an "anti-American" agenda.
The question of land ownership is highly politically charged in South Africa, due to the legacy of the colonial and apartheid eras when Black people were dispossessed of their lands and denied property rights.
White landowners still possess three-quarters of South Africa's freehold farmland.
This contrasts with 4 percent owned by Black people, who make up 80 percent of the population compared with about 8 percent for whites, according to the latest land audit.
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Source: TRT
