South Africa Defends Sovereignty as Tensions Rise With US Over Land Reform
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has vowed to defend its sovereignty amid escalating tensions with the United States over a controversial new land expropriation law and accusations of racial discrimination.
Speaking on Sunday at Freedom Day celebrations in Mpumalanga province, ANC National Chair Gwede Mantashe emphasized, “We are a free country, we’re a sovereign country. We’re not a province of the United States and that sovereignty will be defended.”
The tensions erupted after US President Donald Trump criticized South Africa’s new land expropriation legislation, signing an executive order in February that condemned it as a move to “seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.” Trump’s order also allowed Afrikaners to seek asylum in the US, calling them “victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa defended the law, stating it promotes “equitable and just access to land” for all South Africans. While the legislation permits land seizures without compensation, it applies only under specific conditions.
Mantashe Slams Critics
Mantashe criticized South Africans calling for international intervention against their country. “Now they are told to go there and be refugees, they are refusing. They must go,” he said, referencing those appealing to Trump for support.
Elon Musk also entered the fray, describing South Africa’s ownership policies as “racist” on his social media platform X.
Despite apartheid ending decades ago, white South Africans still own a disproportionate amount of the country’s land and wealth, a fact the government says the new law seeks to address.
Diplomatic Fallout and Efforts to De-escalate
To ease tensions, South Africa recently appointed Mcebisi Jonas as special envoy to Washington to advance diplomatic, trade, and bilateral priorities. This follows Washington’s expulsion of South Africa’s ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, after Rasool accused Trump of engaging in “dog whistle” politics.
In a related development, officials from Orania, an all-white separatist town founded after apartheid, traveled to the US to seek recognition as an autonomous state.
Addressing this, Mantashe suggested integration: “Black people must go and build there, and we mix them,” he said, stressing that “hatred can never survive peace” and that unity was essential for nation-building.
