Bulelwa Hoala

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday, 7 February 2025 halting funding to South Africa.
This is reportedly over his disapproval of the Expropriation Bill and South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, an ally of the United States, at the International Court of Justice (ICC ).
“The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” reads the order issued by the White House.
The order also mentions that the United States will formulate a plan to resettle white South African farmers (Afrikaners) and their families as refugees.
“The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritise humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Programme, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination. Such a plan shall be submitted to the President through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor,” the order reads.
On Monday, 3 January 2025 Trump announced on X that he would be cutting off all funding to South Africa and accused the country of “confiscating land” and violating the human rights of “certain classes of people”.
Ramaphosa responded to Trump and said, “The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution.”
This comes after Ramaphosa signed the controversial Expropriation Bill into law on Thursday, 23 January 2025.
The bill stipulates that the South African government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to expropriate in the public interest.
According to Reuters, the most recent U.S. government data shows the United States allocated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023.
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