Donald Trump, the President of the United States, has announced plans to cut off funding to South Africa due to reported human rights violations in the country.
Sharing the news on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Trump, who was sworn in for a second term as President, accused South Africa of land confiscation and mistreating certain groups of people. He stated that funding would be suspended until a full investigation of the situation has been conducted.
“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, at a minimum, is happening for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!
Donald Trump Truth Social Post 06:19 PM EST 02/02/25″
Earlier, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had stated that the country is not concerned about its relationship with the United States.
In 2018, Ramaphosa had previously warned Trump to refrain from interfering in South Africa’s domestic affairs, emphasizing that it is a sovereign state. This warning came after Trump announced that he had instructed the Secretary of State to examine the South Africa Land Reform Program, a statement that did not sit well with President Ramaphosa.
“South Africa is our land. South Africa belongs to all the people who live here in South Africa. It does not belong to Donald Trump. He can give his America. And Ernie is even worse. When I meet him, I will tell him. I will tell Donald Trump that he’s even worse as his forebears came to America; they found the natives, the indigenous Americans, and they wiped them out. They killed nearly all of them. We are living as a nation, black and white. We are going to find solutions for our land pressure so Donald Trump must leave us alone. When we were facing apartheid and oppression, he was not here. He did not fight side by side with us. We were able, on our own, with support from progressive forces in the world, to resolve the apartheid questions. As far as I recall, Donald Trump was not a part of the negotiating table so stuck around the White House. We will do our business here, and we will find solutions to our problems for all of our problems, so stay out of our issues, and we will not get involved in your issues in America. You have your own problem; leave us alone.” Ramaphosa stated.
In a related development, President Trump warned BRICS member countries against attempting to replace the US dollar as a reserve currency, reiterating a threat of imposing 100% tariffs he made weeks after being elected.
“We will require a commitment from these seemingly hostile countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor support any other currency to replace the mighty US Dollar, or they will face 100% tariffs,” Trump said on Truth Social, making a statement nearly identical to one he posted earlier this week.
At that time, Russia claimed that any US attempt to force countries to use the dollar would backfire.
The BRICS grouping includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and several other countries that joined in recent years. While the group does not currently have a common currency, discussions on the topic have gained momentum following the sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
“There is no chance that BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade or anywhere else, and any country that tries should say hello to tariffs and goodbye to America!” Trump added.
