TRUMP LOCKS HORNS WITH S. AFRICA OVER LAND REFORM

South Africa's president says he’s ready to school Donald Trump about what his country’s land-reform policy is really about. Cyril Ramaphosa was responding to his US counterpart’s threat to cut aid to Pretoria - over a newly signed law that allows it to seize privately-owned land (in some instances, without compensation).

Trump accused the South African government of 'confiscating land' and treating 'certain groups' poorly. He was likely referring to White South Africans who, as a result of racist colonial-era laws, own the lion's share of the country's arable land (over 72%, according to the last major land-ownership census in 2017) - despite making up less than 8% of the population. Black people, who account for about 80% of the country's citizens, own less than 4% of the land.

It is these disparities that the new law seeks to address.

Ramaphosa said the law is in line with international best practices regarding the need to balance “public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners.”

It is not the first time that Trump has waded into the controversy over South Africa's land issues. During his first term, he claimed there was a 'genocide' against White farmers in South Africa, a worn-out and refuted talking point by the country's right-wing forces. Police data shows that 0.25% of murder victims in South Africa are White farmers.

Source:

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/world/trump-threat-to-south-africa-over-land-4911560