South Africa dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest social media comments on its land reform policies, saying it would not engage in “counterproductive megaphone diplomacy.”
Trump reiterated claims that Pretoria was seizing land and extended an offer of U.S. citizenship to farmers seeking to leave. The South African government insists the president has misinterpreted its new land expropriation law, which allows for land seizures without compensation in certain cases.
In response, a government spokesperson reaffirmed South Africa’s commitment to maintaining strong trade and diplomatic ties with Washington but stressed that relations should be based on mutual respect.
Trump last month halted U.S. financial aid to South Africa, alleging discrimination against the white Afrikaner minority. His administration also withdrew from a climate funding initiative that supported South Africa’s transition from coal to green energy.
Land reform remains a sensitive issue in South Africa, where white landowners still hold most private farmland three decades after apartheid. The government says expropriation without compensation will only occur in cases deemed “just and equitable” in the public interest.
