President Donald Trump on Sunday said that a "massive human rights violation" is why he’s cutting off U.S. aid to South Africa.
Trump signed an executive order to cut financial assistance to South Africa, the White House said on Friday, citing disapproval of the African nation's land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally Israel.
The White House said Washington will also formulate a plan to resettle South African farmers and their families as refugees. It said U.S. officials will take steps to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa, who are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers.
"South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION is happening, for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it - We will act. Also, because of this, I will be cutting off all aid to South Africa until further notice!" Trump posted Sunday morning on Truth Social.
Despite Trump’s offer to rehouse white South Africans as refugees fleeing persecution, white lobby groups want to "tackle the injustices" of Black majority rule on home soil.
"Emigration only offers an opportunity for Afrikaners who are willing to risk potentially sacrificing their descendants' cultural identity as Afrikaners. The price for that is simply too high," AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said Saturday.
Last month, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa signed an expropriation act aiming to redress land inequalities that stem from South Africa's history of white supremacy.
The law seeks to address racial land ownership disparities, which has left three-quarters of privately owned land in the hands of the white minority, by making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest.
White people represent 7.2% of South Africa's population of 63 million, statistics data shows. The data does not breakdown how many are Afrikaner.
South Africa's British rulers handed most farmland to whites. In 1950, the Apartheid-era National Party seized 85% of the land, forcing 3.5 million Black people from their homes.
Reuters contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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