United States President Donald Trump’s threats to cut funding over assumptions of the impact of the newly passed Expropriation Act have garnered much political reaction locally.
Trump said the US plans to cease financial aid to South Africa pending investigations into what he described as “horrible things taking place in South Africa.”
This appears to be triggered by misinformation, which the African National Congress (ANC) blames on the lobby group, Afriforum, which had previously lobbied in the US in 2018 against the then bill, which is now an Act of law.
Other political parties in South Africa, however, hold a different view to the ANC’s assertion.
“Doing some terrible things, horrible things so that’s under investigation right now, to make a determination and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing. They are taking away land, they’re confiscating land and actually, they are doing things that are perhaps far worse than that,” says Trump.
This is the statement that has ruffled feathers. Trump joined the discourse on the piece of legislation, which is at the core of land justice in South Africa.
“We will also be writing to the American government asking them, specifically not to punish the ordinary people in this country but rather to focus on ANC leaders that are acting foolishly. The fact is normal people are already under terrible economic pressure and this kind of action by the US will harm us most. We cannot be punished twice for having a foolish government,” says Kallie Kriel, AfriForum CEO.
Different views
Some local political parties, however, hold different views to those of the ANC, which has fingered AfriForum as the source of the misinformation, which it says are efforts to protect apartheid-era land ownership.
“The ANC strongly condemns the misinformation campaign orchestrated by AfriForum which has now found an amplifier in United States President Donald Trump. President Trump’s recent tweet echoing AfriForum’s false claims of land confiscation is a direct result of the lobby group’s ongoing efforts to mislead the global community and protect apartheid-era land ownership patents,” says Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, ANC National Spokesperson.
The Democratic Alliance(DA), which has also expressed reservations about the Act, sought to correct the belief that the Act allows land to be arbitrarily seized.
“The Democratic Alliance notes with deep concern President Trump’s threat to cut critical aid funding in response to the Expropriation Act. While the Act does need to be amended to meet the sequencing requirements as were highlighted by Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, there are also opportunities to deal with other concerns that have been raised in the public since the assertion to the Act. However, it is not true that the Act allows land to be seized by the state arbitrarily and it does require fair compensation for legitimate expropriations in terms of section 25 of the Constitution,” says Willie Aucamp, DA National Spokesperson.
Freedom Front Plus highlighted the impact of the cutting of foreign aid.
“We already experienced the problems with the HIV patients, with the stopping of the US Aid for 90 days in South Africa. We must do everything we can to build the economy. And if we do not going to take note of the remarks of President Trump, we’re going to pay a severe price,” says Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader.
While questions are still in the air as to what this latest move by the US symbolizes for South Africa, parties in the GNU have said they will be engaging with the Trump administration to remedy the situation.
