Trump Cuts US Funding to South Africa Over Land Policy and ICJ Case

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President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to halt US financial assistance to South Africa, according to the White House. This decision stems from disapproval of South Africa’s land policy and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In 2023, the United States allocated nearly $440 million in aid to South Africa, according to the latest US government data.

The White House also announced plans to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees in the United States. Efforts will prioritise humanitarian relief through the US Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa, predominantly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers.

Trump, without providing evidence, claimed that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that certain groups were being treated “very badly.” South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, a close associate of Trump, asserted that white South Africans have suffered from “racist ownership laws.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who recently signed a bill facilitating land expropriation in the public interest, has defended the policy. He emphasised that the government had not confiscated any land and that the policy aimed to address racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation. Ramaphosa insisted that South Africa “will not be bullied.”

Washington has also expressed dissatisfaction with South Africa’s ICJ case accusing Israel of genocide over its military actions in Gaza, which resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis. Israel denies the allegations, stating that it acted in self-defense following an attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on 7 October 2023.

The White House cited this case as an example of South Africa taking positions against Washington and its allies.

Trump’s executive order aims to address human rights issues in South Africa, according to the White House. He had threatened to cut funding for the nation shortly after taking office.

Land ownership in South Africa remains a highly charged political issue due to the colonial and apartheid eras, during which Black people were dispossessed of their lands and denied property rights. White landowners still hold three-quarters of South Africa’s freehold farmland, while Black people, who make up 80% of the population, own just 4%, according to a 2017 land audit.

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