President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order cutting all US aid to South Africa and establishing a plan to resettle white Afrikaners as refugees, accusing the South African government of “race-based discrimination” against them.
The order, signed on Friday, says the South African government has seized “ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation” and issued “countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity” in public life.
It also claims the country has “taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies,” including accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice and strengthening its ties with Iran.
“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,” the order says.
A new Land Expropriation Act has elicited a fierce backlash from white farmers in South Africa, who believe their land will be taken from them and redistributed, as happened in Zimbabwe, with disastrous effects for the country.
“South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social this week, in response to the new Act.
Elon Musk also asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?”
Ramaphosa attempted to defend the Act on X, saying it was “not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process.” In his State of the Nation address, he struck a less conciliatory tone, saying that his government would “not be bullied.”
Trump’s executive order directs all US agencies to cease providing assistance to South Africa, including development and health programs. The US provided nearly $440 million in aid to the country in 2023, with a majority of funds being dedicated to HIV/AIDS treatment.