 "Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings in Tshwane, South Africa. AP file")
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday took up his concerns over “disinformation” to Elon Musk after US President Donald Trump said that the government in Cape Town is confiscating land".
The South African leader spoke to the Tesla CEO, a native of the country, following Trump’s comments who appeared to be referring to a land expropriation act signed last month.
“We flagged our concern with respect to the disinformation that we saw in the announcement by President Trump, but also in his own response to our statement,” Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya told reporters.
What did Trump say?
Earlier this week, POTUS said that his government would cut off all funding to South Africa over “illegal land grabs” by the country’s officials.
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He added, “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!”
What did Musk say?
Following Trump’s charge on social media on Sunday, Musk used his platform X to accuse Ramaphosa’s government of having “openly racist ownership laws”.
Ramaphosa rejected Trump’s claims Monday, saying the 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”.
The act stipulates the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to seize in the public interest.
However, it does not allow for arbitrary seizures and states that attempts must be made to reach an agreement on compensation with the owner.
With inputs from AFP