On Sunday, Donald Trump vowed to withhold aid to South Africa as punishment for a law meant to provide redress to people and communities harmed during the country’s racist apartheid system.
South Africa is still plagued by racial inequality stemming from apartheid laws that essentially made Black South Africans second-class citizens, and that inequality has undermined Black land ownership in the country. In January, responding to years of activism, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government “to expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons that seek, among others, to promote inclusivity and access to natural resources.”
Despite including guidelines to avoid abuse, the law was controversial (as reparative efforts to correct racist wrongs often are). But Trump went even further in his criticism.
In a post on his social platform, the president falsely claimed “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY.” Trump said the United States would withhold all aid to South Africa until his administration conducts an investigation into his claim. Trump didn’t specify the “certain classes” he was talking about, but it seemed pretty clear he was talking about white South Africans. As the Southern Poverty Law Center notes, this conspiracy theory has been years in the making. Back in 2018, Trump lobbed similar claims at South African officials, parroting allegations that white nationalists and far-right figures in the United States and South Africa have made, falsely accusing South African officials of facilitating a “white genocide.”
Billionaire SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who was born and spent his formative years in apartheid South Africa, has also spread the false claims that a “white genocide” is underway. After Ramaphosa refuted Trump’s accusation in a tweet, saying the law isn’t allowing confiscations and merely “ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” Musk accused him of allowing “racist ownership laws.”
The richest man in the world has been pushing a false ethno-nationalist claim that white South Africans in his home country are under attack. And now, it appears that Trump has adopted these claims as well and is using them to guide U.S. policy.