The US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to halt all US aid to South Africa, accusing the countryʼs government of racial discrimination against Afrikaners, South Africans of European descent.
The decree was published on the White House website.
The order accused the South African government of seizing “agricultural property of ethnic African minorities without compensation” and implementing “countless government policies aimed at eliminating equal opportunities” in the areas of employment, education, and business.
The document also claims that South African leaders have taken an aggressive stance towards the United States and its allies, pointing to the countryʼs decision to accuse Israel of genocide at the UN International Court of Justice and deepening ties with Iran.
“The United States cannot support a South African government that violates human rights in its country or undermines United States foreign policy, which poses a threat to the national security of our country, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” the decree said.
The Washington Post notes that Trumpʼs criticism was prompted by a recent law that allows land expropriation without compensation in rare cases. However, South African officials have said the policy is part of an effort to address inequalities left over from apartheid, a system that for decades prevented black South Africans from owning land.
Land ownership in South Africa remains one of the harshest legacies of apartheid. White South Africans, who make up about 8% of the population, own almost three-quarters of the countryʼs farmland, while black South Africans, who make up 80% of the population, own just 4%, according to the countryʼs 2017 land audit.
Although officials in Pretoria have attempted to present land reform as a means of correcting this imbalance, it has met with fierce resistance from white landowners, some of whom claim that their property rights are under threat.
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