President Cyril Ramaphosa says he is looking forward to engaging with US President Donald Trump on South Africa’s land reform policies, after Trump announced he would cut off funding to South Africa, claiming the South African government was “confiscating land”.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya dismissed Trump’s claims on social media on Monday, 3 February, denying that land had been confiscated by the government.
“South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land,” he 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. South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners.
Read more: Putting the Expropriation Bill into perspective – it’s not the ugly ogre some make it out to be
“We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest. We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters,” Magwenya continued.
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA LOOKS FORWARD TO ENGAGING WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP OVER ISSUES OF BILATERAL INTEREST AND CONCERN
South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land.… pic.twitter.com/ttVXfhshVJ
— The Presidency ?? (@PresidencyZA) February 3, 2025
Magwenya said the US remained “a key strategic and trade partner” for South Africa.
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Trump took a swipe at South Africa’s land reform policies in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, claiming, without providing evidence, that South Africa was “confiscating land” and “treating certain classes of people very badly”.
“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,” he wrote.
He added that he would be “cutting off” all future funding to South Africa pending an investigation into the issue.
Trump later told journalists that South Africa’s leadership was engaged in “some terrible things, horrible things” which were now under investigation by his administration, but did not provide evidence or details, The Guardian reported.
Trump’s claims come after Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act into law last month. The Act has drawn criticism from some parties in the government of national unity (GNU), particularly the DA and Freedom Front Plus, and lobby groups including AfriForum and Solidarity.
However, as Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis has written, legal experts and agricultural economists appear more relaxed about the Act than the politicians.
The Dutch agriculture ministry has described the fears around the Act as “bloated”, saying: “While land is a sensitive topic in South Africa and the passing of this bill has been divisive, it is clear that there is no immediate risk to land ownership security. This is an important outcome for the agriculture sector where land is a key asset.”
Annelize Crosby, head of legal intelligence at Agbiz, wrote in Daily Maverick that there is “no doubt” South Africa needs a new Expropriation Act.
Crosby noted that “powers to expropriate for various purposes already exist in more than 200 other pieces of legislation” in South Africa.
“Stopping this bill will not take away the state’s powers to expropriation as this originates directly from the Constitution. Should the bill fail to pass, the powers of expropriation will still exist but the processes, checks and balances in this bill will fall by the wayside,” Crosby explained.
Responses from lobby groups, political quarters
Following Trump’s claims, AfriForum entered the fray on Monday, saying it would write to the US government, requesting that the “punitive measures” that Trump intends to introduce against South Africa “should rather target senior ANC leaders directly, and not South African residents”.
The minority civil rights organisation had announced a three-point plan to fight the Expropriation Act, after Ramaphosa signed it into law.
“AfriForum is also going to make an urgent request to the South African government to, in an attempt to avert this crisis, table an amendment to the Expropriation Act that will ensure the protection of property rights in South Africa,” AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said on Monday.
In response to Trump on X, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola said he trusted that Trump’s advisers would “leverage” the opportunity to investigate to “deepen their understanding” of South Africa’s land reform policies.
We trust that President Trump's advisors will leverage this investigative period to deepen their understanding of South Africa's policies as a constitutional democracy. Such insights will ensure a respectful and informed approach to our democratic commitments.
— Minister: International Relations and Cooperation (@RonaldLamola) February 3, 2025
Lamola told Daily Maverick later: “We trust President Trump’s advisers will make use of the investigative period to attain a thorough understanding of South Africa’s policies within the framework of a constitutional democracy.
“This approach will promote a well-informed viewpoint that values and recognises our nation’s dedication to democratic ideals and governance. It may become clear that our Expropriation Act is not exceptional, as many countries have similar legislation, commonly referred to as eminent domain in the United States and governed by various acts in the United Kingdom.”
The DA put out a statement emphasising that the Expropriation Act does not allow for the arbitrary seizure of land, as suggested by Trump.
In the statement, DA leader and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, said “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. It is unfortunate that individuals have sought to portray this Act as an amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for Expropriation Without Compensation.”
He said the GNU is in the process of engaging the Trump administration in order to clarify the situation, and the DA supports these efforts.
Steenhuisen emphasised that: “Property rights are foundational to the success of our economy and the DA will always fight to ensure they are fully protected. We successfully opposed any change to Section 25 of the Constitution, which protects property rights, and we will continue to work to ensure the Expropriation Amendment Act is constitutionally sound in every respect.”
Good party secretary-general Brett Herron, in a statement on Monday, said that those responsible for misinforming Trump should “bear the consequences”, and called for urgent action to be taken against AfriForum for “spreading deliberately false and inflammatory disinformation”.
He said that the party condemned the “disinformation efforts by AfriForum, Solidarity and their political party spearheads, the Freedom Front Plus and the Democratic Alliance”.
“US President Donald Trump’s statements on social media that the South African government is “confiscating land” and ill-treating “certain classes of people” – and that South Africa is therefore deserving of economic sanctions – is a direct consequence of misrepresentations about the Expropriation Act by people who seek to protect the beneficiaries of colonial and apartheid land dispossession,” said Herron.
Herron described the act of appealing to US law-makers to publish South Africa as “anti-democratic”, saying it “has the effect of an act of economic treason”.
“While the likes of Afriforum and other groups, including parties which are now members of the GNU, are within their rights to argue for the retention of the apartheid-era status-quo – free speech is guaranteed by the Constitution – they have no right to place the country’s economic welfare at risk by feeding misinformation to Washington lawmakers,” he said.
Herron also pointed out that in the US, “the 5th Amendment known as “eminent domain” enables the government to expropriate land when it is “in the public interest”, just like the Expropriation Act.” DM
This is a developing story and will be updated.