President Cyril Ramaphosa
Elon Musk on Monday branded South Africa’s land policy “racist” after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said he hoped to have discussions with US President Donald Trump on his decision to suspend all aid to the country.
Trump announced the step in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social on Sunday, saying: “South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
Trump made no direct mention of the Expropriation Act, which Ramaphosa signed in law on 23 January. The presidency suggested the US president’s decision was based on a misreading of the measure, which was not aimed at the confiscation of private land.
“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,” it 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.”
Musk, the South African born billionaire who heads Trump’s department of government efficiency, responded on his social media site X to Ramaphosa’s statement with the comment: “Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?”
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said he hoped the White House’s advisers would come to a better understanding of South Africa’s legislation on expropriation in the public interest, a concept that equally exists in the US where it is called “declaring eminent domain”.
“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,” his office said.
“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.”
It is understood that Lamola was trying to speak to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss Trump’s announcement.
The presidency made the same point that expropriation was not a new concept in South Africa, and was common throughout the world.
It noted that the effect of Trump’s announcement would be limited, because Washington did not give significant funding to South Africa beyond support for the national HIV/Aids programme through the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar).
The health department drew 17% of the budget for its HIV programme from Pepfar, which has provided billions of dollars to South Africa in this regard since its inception in 2003.
Trump closed the tap a fortnight ago when, hours after taking office, he announced a 90-day freeze on all funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Rubio last week said there would be a waiver for “life-saving humanitarian assistance” while Washington reviews the work of the independent agency, but for now it remains unclear if local health care programmes will be exempted and could resume operations.
The US embassy could not immediately provide the total sum of aid funding to South Africa in the past year, but data on the website of the US Office of Foreign Assistance put the figure at $ 323.4 million (R6.1 billion at the current exchange rate) while noting that 2024 remains a “partially reported year” at this point.
The figure for 2023 was $ 439.8 million, with most of the money going towards HIV/Aids programmes.
Ramaphosa’s office said apart from funding for Pepfar, “there is no other significant funding that is provided by the United States in South Africa”.
The Expropriation Act of 2025 was the cause for the latest standoff between the two biggest partners in South Africa’s government of national unity.
It seeks to repeal and replace the 1975 Act of the same designation. But it differs from its predecessor in two respects, namely that expropriation may be undertaken in the public interest and for public purposes.
It gives the minister of public works the power to expropriate land at compensation below market value, including “nil compensation”, in narrowly defined circumstances.
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen last weekend threatened to reconsider his party’s place in the ruling coalition after Ramaphosa assented to the Act, but analysts have noted that it is limited in scope and that instances of zero compensation will arise in a negligible number of cases.
On Monday, Steenhuisen said he noted Trump’s announcement with “deep concern”.
He said although he still believed that the Act should be amended to address what Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson qualified as sequencing requirements, alarmist interpretations of the law were regrettable.
“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.
The ANC blamed Afriforum for Trump’s decision. The party accused the minority pressure group of conducting a misinformation campaign on land legislation.
“The African National Congress (ANC) strongly condemns the misinformation campaign orchestrated by AfriForum, which has now found an amplifier in United States (US) President Donald Trump.
“President Trump’s recent tweet, echoing AfriForum’s false claims of ‘land confiscation,’ is a direct result of the lobby group’s ongoing efforts to mislead the global community and protect apartheid-era land ownership patterns.”
Afriforum lobbyists have deliberately misrepresented the Expropriation Act in Washington and elsewhere, the ANC said.
“By weaponising misinformation, they have emboldened some, who have no understanding of South Africa’s democratic processes but are quick to perpetuate racist narratives.”
Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema said Trump’s comments were offensive and undermined South Africa’s sovereignty.
“There is nothing he can do to undermine our independence,” Malema told a media briefing on Monday.
“We want to make it categorically clear to the US president that we will expropriate land without compensation and pursue legislative measures to do so, and no threat will stop us.”
*With additional reporting by Mandisa Nyathi
*This story has been updated with comment from Elon Musk, reaction from Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen, the ANC, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, and data on US aid to South Africa.