Zimpapers Logo

Nqobile Tshili, [email protected]

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed United States President Donald Trump’s claims that the neighbouring country is violating human rights through its land expropriation policy.

President Trump, who assumed the US presidency last month, has ruffled feathers by announcing policies that seem to clash with the independence of other nations.

He claimed that South Africa is “confiscating land and treating certain classes of people badly, and America will not stand for it and will cut funding to the neighbouring country.”

Responding to President Trump through a statement, South Africa’s President Ramaphosa said it is his country’s sovereign democratic right to determine its policies, including those related to 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. 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. South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of property owners’ rights,” said President Ramaphosa.

He said his government will engage with the Trump administration in the hope of finding common ground.

President Ramaphosa added that, with the exception of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), South Africa does not receive any funding from the US.

“We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest. We are certain that out of those engagements, we will reach a better and common understanding of these matters. The US remains a key strategic political and trade partner for South Africa. With the exception of PEPFAR aid, which constitutes 17 percent of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programme, there is no other funding received by South Africa from the United States,” said President Ramaphosa.

– @nqotshili