Trump signs order freezing aid to South Africa over ‘racial discrimination’ against
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order cutting US financial assistance to South Africa, accusing its government of “unjust racial discrimination” against white Afrikaners and offering them asylum in the United States.
The order took aim at South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recently signed law allowing land expropriation with “nil compensation” in specific cases. It also cites concerns over country’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the White House announced on Friday.
Trump’s directive claims that South Africa enforces “countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business” and accuses the government of fostering “hateful rhetoric and disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”
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South Africa’s foreign ministry condemned the order, calling it “factually inaccurate” and rejecting claims that white South Africans face systemic persecution. “It is ironic that the executive order grants refugee status to a group in South Africa that remains among the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people elsewhere are being denied asylum,” the ministry said.
Trump has previously claimed, without evidence, that South Africa is confiscating land and mistreating certain groups. His stance has been echoed by South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who has said white South Africans face “racist ownership laws.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill last month aimed at easing state-led land expropriation. He has insisted that no land has been confiscated and that the policy seeks to address historical racial inequalities in land ownership.
Ramaphosa has also stated that South Africa “will not be bullied.”
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The decision to cut financial aid, which amounted to nearly $440 million in 2023, has raised concerns over South Africa’s inclusion in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The act is US legislation that needs to be renewed by the US Congress this year, allows South African exporters to sell goods tariff-free to the US, benefiting key industries such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Tensions over foreign policy
Beyond land policy, the White House cited South Africa’s foreign policy as a reason for the executive order. The Trump administration criticised South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, arguing that Pretoria has “taken aggressive positions against the United States and its allies.”
Washington also raised concerns over South Africa’s strengthening ties with Iran, suggesting that the country was “reinvigorating commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements” with Tehran.
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South Africa, once ruled by white Afrikaner leaders under apartheid, remains deeply unequal over 30 years after the end of white minority rule, with land and wealth still largely concentrated among the 7% white population, while Black South Africans make up 81%.
Afrikaners, primarily descended from Dutch settlers and French Huguenots, historically benefited from apartheid’s segregation and land policies, but some now claim discrimination, often citing affirmative action laws.
Conservative Afrikaner pressure groups expressed concern over the US aid cut and the potential exclusion of South Africa from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allows South African exporters, including farmers, to sell thousands of products to the US tariff-free.
“This is indeed a crisis,” said Kallie Kriel, the CEO of Afriforum, a group that describes itself as a civil rights organization for Afrikaners but has been accused of racism. “If somebody is to blame, it is the president and senior ANC [African National Congress] leaders.”
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Kriel also praised Trump’s move, stating: “We want to also show appreciation to President Trump … for recognizing and identifying the discrimination that Afrikaners are experiencing through racial legislation … through threats to property rights.” He added, “We became a people here, we are Indigenous people in this country and we are going nowhere.”
This article was originally published by a indianexpress.com . Read the Original article here. .