International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Ronald Lamola has diplomatically responded to United States' President Donald Trump's threats of cutting funding to South Africa as retaliation for "confiscating land".
This comes after Trump, in a Fox News interview shared online, was asked if he was planning to cut aid to different African nations.
Trump responded: “No. It’s only South Africa, terrible things are happening in South Africa, the leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things... so that's under investigation right now, we're making determinations and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing.
“They are taking away land, they are confiscating land and actually they are doing things that are perhaps far worse than that".
On his Truth Social app, Trump also wrote that "South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY …”
“I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!" Trump wrote.
Reacting to Trump’s outbursts, Minister Lamola said he hopes Trump’s advisors will attain a full understanding of South Africa’s policy frameworks.
“We trust President Trump's advisors will make use of the investigative period to attain a thorough understanding of South Africa's policies within the framework of a constitutional democracy,” said Lamola.
“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,” Lamola added.
In an interview with IOL on Monday morning, Associate Professor at the Tshwane University of Technology, John Molepo said President Cyril Ramaphosa would be wise to avoid responding to Trump on social media platforms but pursue diplomatic engagements.
“South Africans will tell you that whatever Trump is saying, it is untrue. It is not what is happening, what we see on a daily basis in South Africa. As much as the question of land is still a hot topic in South Africa, and Expropriation Act recently passed by President Ramaphosa, this remains a very complex matter.
“Trump’s public utterances are rather unfortunate and I think it is high time South Africa pursues diplomatic engagements with him. Considering how powerful the United States is, probably this is a way to push South Africa out of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa forum).
“President Ramaphosa must give President Trump a courtesy call so that he can understand why he (Trump) is doing this. Maybe Trump is misled. I think his whole motivation could be about South Africa’s strong alignment to BRICS,” Molepo added.
IOL reported in January that in a significant development for land reform in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially signed the Expropriation Bill into law.
The landmark legislation was signed to address longstanding issues of land inequality and provide a framework for the expropriation of land without compensation.
Ramaphosa has recently said he was not worried about the country's relationship with Trump. He said he had spoken to Trump after the latter's election victory and looked forward to working with his administration.