U.S. President Donald Trump
said on Wednesday he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to
"closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures" and the
killing of farmers there.
I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. “South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.” @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2018
"I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study
the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and
large scale killing of farmers," Trump said in a post on
Twitter.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on August, 1, that the
ruling African National Congress (ANC) is forging ahead with
plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of
land without compensation, as whites still own most of South
Africa's land more than two decades after the end of apartheid.
Trump's tweet appeared to be a response to a Fox News report
on Wednesday that focused on South Africa's land issue and
murders of white farmers.
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC has followed a
"willing-seller, willing-buyer" model under which the government
buys white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks. Progress
has been slow.
South Africa's state-owned Land Bank said on Monday a plan
to allow the state to seize land without compensation could
trigger defaults that could cost the government 41 billion rand
($2.8 billion) if the bank's rights as a creditor are not
protected.
Trump's tweet comes days after it was announced that his
wife, Melania, will travel to Africa in October for her first
major solo international trip as first lady.
In January, South Africa protested to the U.S. embassy in
Pretoria about reported remarks by Trump that some immigrants
from Africa and Haiti come from "shithole" countries.
South Africa's foreign ministry called the remarks, which
sources said Trump made during a meeting on immigration
legislation, "crude and offensive" and said Trump’s subsequent
denial was not categorical.