As the relationship between the government of South Africa and United States of America (USA) under the new administration of president Donald Trump continues to suffer a down turn, South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the country would not allow any form of bullying by the foreign powers
Ramaphosa said in a national address Thursday, after criticism this week of his government from senior US officials including President Donald Trump.
“We are witnessing the rise of nationalism, protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests, and the decline of common cause,” Ramaphosa said.
“This is the world that we as South Africa, a developing economy, must now navigate, but we are not daunted,” he said. “We are, as South Africans, a resilient people, and we will not be bullied.”
Trump asserted this week that South Africa was “confiscating” land via an expropriation act signed last month, a charge the government denies and has described as “misinformation”.
The US leader, who is advised by South Africa-born Elon Musk, also accused Pretoria of “treating certain classes of people very badly” and threatened to cut funding to the country.
The act signed by Ramaphosa last month stipulates the government may, in some circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to seize in the public interest.
Land ownership is a contentious issue in South Africa with most farmland still owned by white people three decades after the end of apartheid and the government under pressure to implement reforms.
Following Trump’s charge, Musk used his social media platform X to accuse Ramaphosa’s government of having “openly racist ownership laws”.
And on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would skip G20 talks this month in South Africa, accusing the host government of having an “anti-American” agenda.
“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability’,” Rubio wrote in his post.
“In other words: DEI and climate change,” he said, referring to diversity, equality and inclusion programmes.
“My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”
ADVERTISEMENT