The tiff between the United States and South Africa appeared to worsen on Feb. 3 after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa rebuffed Donald Trump’s threat to freeze aid. Ramaphosa also denied Trump’s claim that South Africa had seized land from white farmers as part of its land redistribution program.

In a video circulating on social media, Ramaphosa appears to chide Trump for using threats to force his country to reverse the recently passed Expropriation Act. Signed into law in late January, the new act repeals the 1975 Act and reportedly aims to align the country’s expropriation laws with the Constitution.

While critics argue that the law may severely impact property rights, proponents believe it has the potential to reduce land inequality. Currently, white farmers are said to own more than 70% of South Africa’s arable farmland yet Statistics South Africa’s 2011 census shows that whites account for less than 10% of the country’s population. The Expropriation Act is said to include provisions for compensation should the state proceed with compulsory land acquisition.

In his message on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump suggests that South Africa has already seized land from its owners. He also accuses the country of treating “certain classes of people very badly.” Consequently, the U.S. president vowed to cut off aid to the African nation.

“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,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

Trump’s threats against the African country came just hours after he followed through on his promise to hike tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico. The tariff increases have roiled markets, with bitcoin (BTC) plunging by 16% in less than 24 hours. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, the drop triggered crypto market liquidations exceeding $1.2 billion.

Prior to his latest warning, Trump had clashed with South Africa and fellow BRICS member countries over reports that these countries were planning to launch a currency to counter the U.S. dollar. However, shortly after the U.S. president’s warning, South Africa issued a statement denying claims that BRICS is attempting to de-dollarize.

Meanwhile, in his own social media post reflecting on South Africa’s relationship with the U.S., Ramaphosa explained why his country felt compelled to amend its land expropriation act.

“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution. South Africa, like the United States of America and other countries, has always had expropriation laws that balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of rights of property owners,” the South African leader said.

Many economic commentators and South African business organizations have voiced concern that the ongoing spat between Washington and Pretoria could result in the African country being denied preferential access to U.S. markets. Other commentators believe Elon Musk, a South Africa native and Trump ally, is responsible for the U.S. government’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward their country.

Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), appeared to lend credence to the allegations with an X post backing Trump’s threats.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。