Trump tightens purse strings on South Africa over ICJ case against Israel

The United States allocated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, the most recent US government data shows.

By REUTERS FEBRUARY 8, 2025 04:44

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa briefs the media on South Africa's G20 presidency for 2025 at the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, December 3, 2024. (photo credit: ESA ALEXANDER/REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut US financial assistance to South Africa, the White House said on Friday, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally Israel.

The United States allocated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, the most recent US government data shows.

Race relations in South Africa

The White House said Washington will also formulate a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.

It said US 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.

Trump has said, without citing evidence, that "South Africa is confiscating land" and that "certain classes of people" were treated "very badly." South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, has said that white South Africans have been the victims of "racist ownership laws."

South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela uses a phone at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), during a ruling on South Africa's request to order a halt to Israel's Rafah offensive in Gaza as part of a larger case brought before the Hague-based court by South Africa accusin (credit: JOHANNA GERON/REUTERS)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa - who signed into law a bill last month aimed at making it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest - has defended the policy. He has said the government had not confiscated any land and the policy was aimed at evening out racial disparities in land ownership in the Black-majority nation. Ramaphosa said South Africa "will not be bullied."

Washington has also complained about the case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice, where it accused Israel of genocide over Israel's military assault on Gaza following Hamas's October 7 massacre.

The White House cited that case as an example of South Africa taking positions against Washington and its allies.

The executive order signed by Trump will address human rights issues in South Africa, the White House said. Trump had threatened to cut off funding for the nation soon after taking office.

The question of land ownership is highly politically charged in South Africa, due to the legacy of the colonial and apartheid eras when Black people were dispossessed of their lands and denied property rights.

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White landowners still possess three-quarters of South Africa's freehold farmland. This contrasts with 4% owned by Black people, who make up 80% of the population compared with about 8% for whites, according to the latest 2017 land audit.