US President Trump To Cut-Off Funding To South Africa Over 'Human Rights Violation'
Trump threatens to cut funding to South Africa due to alleged land confiscations. However, the African government said it will that negotiate with landowners and not engage in arbitrary seizures.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he would cut-off all future funding to South Africa, asserting that the government was 'confiscating' land and 'treating certain classes of people very badly'.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump posted, "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!"
The controversy started when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed a land expropriation bill, which allows the government to offer 'nil compensation' for property in cases where expropriation is deemed in the public interest. However, the South African government insisted that this does not equate to arbitrary seizures and that it will negotiate with landowners first, news agency AFP reported.
According to a recent US government data, the government obligated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, as per news agency Reuters. During his first term, Trump had pledged to investigate alleged violent land takeovers and killings of white farmers in South Africa. However, no evidence of large-scale incidents was found.
Last month, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that he was not worried about the country’s relationship with Trump. Ramaphosa said that he had spoken to Trump after his election victory and looked forward to working with his administration. As of now, South Africa holds the G20 presidency, after which the US will take over.
On Saturday, Trump signed an order to imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports and a 10% on goods from China.
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