South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke to Elon Musk regarding “misinformation” about South Africa after US President Donald Trump said he would suspend aid to the country over its land reform policy.
South African-born billionaire Musk, who is close to Trump, waded into the dispute on Monday with a post on X accusing South Africa of having “openly racist ownership laws”, suggesting white people were the victims.
Trump on Sunday accused South Africa of confiscating land and badly treating “certain classes of people”.
Ramaphosa responded by saying the government had not confiscated any property and the policy is aimed at ensuring equitable public access to land.
The presidency said in a statement that Ramaphosa and Musk spoke on Monday “on issues of misinformation and distortions” about South Africa.
“In the process, the president reiterated South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality,” it said, giving no further details.
Yesterday, 3 February 2025, President @CyrilRamaphosa spoke to @ElonMusk on issues of misinformation and distortions about South Africa.
In the process, the President reiterated South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice,… pic.twitter.com/P5CX9ggTYH
— The Presidency(@PresidencyZA) February 4, 2025
‘Full investigation’
The US president had already announced a temporary freeze on almost all foreign assistance as part of his “America First” agenda, pausing billions of dollars in global funding.
Last month, Ramaphosa signed a bill into law that would make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest to address racial disparities in land ownership after apartheid ended in 1994.
According to the government, the bill does not allow it to expropriate property arbitrarily; the landowner must reach an agreement.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump stated: “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed.”
In response, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said: “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.
“It may become clear that our expropriation act is not exceptional, as many countries have similar legislation.”
Ramaphosa added that except for the AIDS relief programme run by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), no other significant funding is provided to South Africa by the United States.
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