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The subject of #Trump’s post appeared to be a recent #law allowing the expropriation of land w/o compensation in rare cases: a measure #SouthAfrica’s govt said is aimed at ending racial disparities in land ownership in the post-apartheid era. Trump’s comments were not the 1st time he has waded into South Africa’s sensitive racial politics, after suggesting during his first term, also w/o evidence, that there were “large scale” killings underway of #White farmers in South Africa.

#ElonMusk, who was born in #SouthAfrica & is Trump’s most prominent ally, has also repeatedly accused #SouthAfrica’s government of anti-White racism, touching on themes popular with #FarRight groups in the #UnitedStates.

“Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?” Musk wrote on X on Monday, in response to a post by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa explaining the expropriation law & denying that land had been confiscated.

#SouthAfrica’s government has framed land reform as a “moral, social & economic imperative,” because of the systemic dispossession of Black South Africans under #apartheid. The country’s first comprehensive land audit in 2017 found that the minority White population owned 72% of individually owned farms & agricultural holdings. Mixed race citizens — referred to officially as Coloured — owned a further 15%, Indians owned 5% & Africans owned 4%.

#geopolitics #USpol #WhiteSupremacy

Since 1994, the government has sought to redistribute land based on a voluntary “willing-seller, willing-buyer” system & by paying compensation. So far those policies, combined with private sales of land, government land acquisition & other programs, have moved 25% of all farmland previously owned by White landowners to Black South African ownership or state ownership, according to research by Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

…It was not immediately clear what assistance #Trump wanted to suspend; in 2023, the #US obligated nearly $440M in assistance to #SouthAfrica, the most recent year that full data is available. The lion’s share went to #health programs, especially #HIVAids treatment & prevention.

Ramaphosa, in his post on X, said #aid from #PEPFAR, a US funded AIDS prevention program, made up 17% of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS program, but apart from that, the South African govt received no direct #aid from the US.

#Trump could also suspend #SouthAfrica’s participation in the #US African Growth & Opportunity Act, which provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the US market. The act — due for renewal this year — requires privileged trading partners to have market-based economies, the rule of #law, political pluralism, & the right to due process, among other conditions. [so that would eliminate the US from participation]

@emory @Nonilex No. Coloured in South Africa never meant what it does in the US. The 18thC Dutch colonists brought Malay workers with them, & pressed local black ppl into service too. Many took wives or partners amongst their workers, the colonists being mostly male. The result was a distinct ethnicity, culture & dialect, mainly in the Cape, known as (Cape) Coloured people. They are proud of their identity, language (a branch of Afrikaans), and traditions. It's more complex than just mixed-race.

@thetruejona @Nonilex thank you for that. i have an uncle that is a chemical engineer for Shell and i know a little about Dutch Imperialism and some of the more bizarre dutch traditions like what they do at christmas

@emory @Nonilex I don't think one would get away with Swart Piet in SA! Searching the Web for Tweede Nuwe Jaar will tell you about the minstrel tradition; Afrikaaps about the language (the earliest written form of what's now Afrikaans was in Arabic script because it was recorded by the Cape Malay/Muslim community). Cape Town's cuisine is influenced by Malay curries, use of fish, and Coloured street food like salomes & gatsbys. That should get you started if you want to know more.

@thetruejona @Nonilex i am so fortunate to have both of you showing up in my feed. i will dazzle and amaze my lingustics/landscape architect aunt later this week! ty! ;) <4