President Trump has threatened to cut off all future funding to South Africa due to the country's new land expropriation law, which will lead to the confiscation of land from white farmers. Trump says it is a “massive” human rights violation against white people.
Elon Musk has also criticised the South African government's land reform policies, accusing them of being anti-white and allowing a "genocide" against white farmers.
The South African government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has denied these claims, stating that the law is aimed at addressing the legacy of apartheid and promoting land reform.
The new land expropriation law in South Africa allows for the government to acquire land from private parties without compensation in certain circumstances, such as if the land is not being used or if it poses a risk to the public.
Some groups have warned that the law could lead to a situation similar to the seizure of white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe. Officially called “land reform” the reality is it was a hideous land grab by a tyrannical governmet that devastated the country.
Zimbabwe’s Land Grab
Zimbabwe’s land grab, initiated in 2000 under President Robert Mugabe, known as Africa’s Hitler, involved the expropriation of white-owned farms without compensation. This policy aimed to redistribute land from white Zimbabweans to black Zimbabweans, addressing historical grievances from the colonial period. However, the land was not given to ordinary black Zimbabweans, it was handed over to ruling party officials and Mugabe’s friends. Mugabe’s land grab has had severe and deadly consequences which still impact the country 25 years later.
The Zimbabwe government’s land grab was marked by violence and intimidation against white farmers, leading to deaths and displacement. The land grab exacerbated tensions between different groups – ZANU-PF supporters and the rest of the population – and contributed to political instability. It also led to the displacement of farm workers and the loss of jobs for many Zimbabweans. Agricultural output declined, contributing to Zimbabwe’s economic collapse including hyperinflation and food shortages resulting in the breadbasket of Africa becoming a basket case, dependent on food imports.
In the Fort Lauderdale News on 24 September 1974, the reporter Paul Scott wrote: “It is Kissinger’s belief, according to aides, that by controlling food one can control people, and by controlling energy, especially oil, one can control nations and financial systems.” Many have shortened this quote to: “He who controls the food, controls the people.” It is this sentiment that many Zimbabweans have always believed was the motivation behind Mugabe’s land grab. Once the population felt the effects of food shortages and Zimbabweans were reduced to near starvation, Mugabe used the distribution of food aid as a political tool to influence votes known as “food for votes.” The first recorded use of this inhuman practice began in the lead-up to the 2002 presidential election and it continues to this day.
South Africa’s Land Grab
In 2023, Elon Musk the Pretoria-born billionaire who owns X (Twitter) and Tesla, feared that a crime against humanity was at risk of unfolding in South Africa. He wrote that he’d heard of calls for “a genocide of white people” in his former homeland.
Musk wasn’t alone in his concerns. Steve Hofmeyr, a South African singer with a cult following, thinks that the “g-word” is an appropriate way to describe what is unfolding: “If you think that the slaughter of South African farmers is not genocide enough, ask them about their land, language, religion, education, universities, heritage, monuments, safety, dignity and the race-based regulations imposed upon them and their children.”
Trump voiced a similar concern when he was in the White House for the first time. In a tweet that caused a diplomatic bust-up between South Africa and the United States in 2018, Trump referred to the “large-scale killing of farmers.”
Logging as many as 450 murders in a week, South Africa has the third-highest murder rate in the world, well ahead of Colombia and Mexico.
Earlier today, South African news outlet Daily Maverick published an interview with the CEO of AfriForum, Kallie Kriel. AfriForum is a non-profit civil rights organisation that was created to call up Afrikaners to participate in public debate and actions outside of the sphere of party politics.
The African National Congress (“ANC”) is the ruling left-wing nationalist political party in South Africa led by Cyril Ramaphosa. The ANC and others blame AfriForum for Trump’s attack. However, Kriel said the accusations being levelled at the organisation are “ludicrous.” “[The US has] an embassy and a State Department, and they can (obviously) read the Expropriation Act,” he said.
The Expropriation Act (2024), also known as the Expropriation Bill, was signed into law by President Ramaphosa on 24 January 2025. It replaces the Expropriation Act (1975) and allows the government to seize land in the name of “public purpose” and “public interest.”
“We have a problem with [Chapter 5] Article 12 (3) (of the Expropriation Act) which is open-ended. It gives a few examples of expropriation without compensation and says, for instance, that this can include but is not limited to (specific categories of property). It is very broad,” Kriel said.
The South African government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, has denied these claims, stating that the law is aimed at addressing the legacy of apartheid and promoting land reform.
The new land expropriation law in South Africa allows for the government to acquire land from private parties without compensation in certain circumstances, such as if the land is not being used or if it poses a risk to the public.
Some groups have warned that the law could lead to a situation similar to the seizure of white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe. Officially called “land reform” the reality is it was a hideous land grab by a tyrannical governmet that devastated the country.
Zimbabwe’s Land Grab
Zimbabwe’s land grab, initiated in 2000 under President Robert Mugabe, known as Africa’s Hitler, involved the expropriation of white-owned farms without compensation. This policy aimed to redistribute land from white Zimbabweans to black Zimbabweans, addressing historical grievances from the colonial period. However, the land was not given to ordinary black Zimbabweans, it was handed over to ruling party officials and Mugabe’s friends. Mugabe’s land grab has had severe and deadly consequences which still impact the country 25 years later.
The Zimbabwe government’s land grab was marked by violence and intimidation against white farmers, leading to deaths and displacement. The land grab exacerbated tensions between different groups – ZANU-PF supporters and the rest of the population – and contributed to political instability. It also led to the displacement of farm workers and the loss of jobs for many Zimbabweans. Agricultural output declined, contributing to Zimbabwe’s economic collapse including hyperinflation and food shortages resulting in the breadbasket of Africa becoming a basket case, dependent on food imports.
In the Fort Lauderdale News on 24 September 1974, the reporter Paul Scott wrote: “It is Kissinger’s belief, according to aides, that by controlling food one can control people, and by controlling energy, especially oil, one can control nations and financial systems.” Many have shortened this quote to: “He who controls the food, controls the people.” It is this sentiment that many Zimbabweans have always believed was the motivation behind Mugabe’s land grab. Once the population felt the effects of food shortages and Zimbabweans were reduced to near starvation, Mugabe used the distribution of food aid as a political tool to influence votes known as “food for votes.” The first recorded use of this inhuman practice began in the lead-up to the 2002 presidential election and it continues to this day.
South Africa’s Land Grab
In 2023, Elon Musk the Pretoria-born billionaire who owns X (Twitter) and Tesla, feared that a crime against humanity was at risk of unfolding in South Africa. He wrote that he’d heard of calls for “a genocide of white people” in his former homeland.
Musk wasn’t alone in his concerns. Steve Hofmeyr, a South African singer with a cult following, thinks that the “g-word” is an appropriate way to describe what is unfolding: “If you think that the slaughter of South African farmers is not genocide enough, ask them about their land, language, religion, education, universities, heritage, monuments, safety, dignity and the race-based regulations imposed upon them and their children.”
Trump voiced a similar concern when he was in the White House for the first time. In a tweet that caused a diplomatic bust-up between South Africa and the United States in 2018, Trump referred to the “large-scale killing of farmers.”
Logging as many as 450 murders in a week, South Africa has the third-highest murder rate in the world, well ahead of Colombia and Mexico.
Earlier today, South African news outlet Daily Maverick published an interview with the CEO of AfriForum, Kallie Kriel. AfriForum is a non-profit civil rights organisation that was created to call up Afrikaners to participate in public debate and actions outside of the sphere of party politics.
The African National Congress (“ANC”) is the ruling left-wing nationalist political party in South Africa led by Cyril Ramaphosa. The ANC and others blame AfriForum for Trump’s attack. However, Kriel said the accusations being levelled at the organisation are “ludicrous.” “[The US has] an embassy and a State Department, and they can (obviously) read the Expropriation Act,” he said.
The Expropriation Act (2024), also known as the Expropriation Bill, was signed into law by President Ramaphosa on 24 January 2025. It replaces the Expropriation Act (1975) and allows the government to seize land in the name of “public purpose” and “public interest.”
“We have a problem with [Chapter 5] Article 12 (3) (of the Expropriation Act) which is open-ended. It gives a few examples of expropriation without compensation and says, for instance, that this can include but is not limited to (specific categories of property). It is very broad,” Kriel said.
Click to view - Chapter 5, Article 12 (3) Compensation For Expropriation: Determination of compensation, Expropriation Act, 2024, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa
“If you buy land for it to grow in value, it can be expropriated without compensation. It gives powers to municipalities, many of which are dysfunctional. Even when a legal process (opposing expropriation) is ongoing, the expropriation can go ahead. This is not in line with the Constitution,” Kriel explained.
“There is no large-scale confiscation by the government,” he said. “We are worried by the fact that there are land grabs. We tried hard to solve this locally. If people do not want to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions, they find scapegoats (by blaming AfriForum).”
Linking Ramaphosa’s proposals in South Africa directly to the disaster Mugabe created, Kriel said: “There should be an (Expropriation Law) Amendment Act to address these primary concerns. Many parts of the Expropriation Act are not a problem. Yes, most countries do have expropriation laws. But not all countries have an expropriation act that allows for nil compensation – that’s only normal in Zimbabwe and Venezuela.”
Kriel emphasised that “the underlying concern is land grabs, with the police not doing anything to stop them (mainly in the Western Cape and Gauteng)” and cited an example.
“We represented the owner of the Akkerland farm after the ANC conference [in] 2017 during which the decision to expropriate without compensation was made,” he said. Akkerland farm, located in Limpopo province, was earmarked for expropriation as part of a special economic zone with majority Chinese investors. It ended up in court.
“There was a list compiled of which farms would be targeted,” Kriel said. “We had an informant in the Department (of Land and Rural Development) who gave us the list, which the government denied. The amount offered (R20 million rather than the ask of R200 million) was low. When there was a public outcry, the government put the price to market value...The full article is published HERE
Rhoda Wilson is a full-time researcher and writer in reaction to the global takeover that came into full view with the introduction of covid-19.
5 comments:
This land sezure didn't only happen in Zimbabwe, but throughout the socialist world. It will happen in NZ if the policies of the previous government are restored. If Maori control the water they will control agriculture. If farmers are taxed but Iwi aren't, it's inevitable that land will end up with Iwi. And as in other socialist countries, the only ones to benefit will be the elite.
This essay is very topical. I lived in Rhodesia and this fifth generation kiwi could quite easily have made it my home. An amazingly well run country that had been created by the early pioneers who tracked up from the South on ox wagons into a primitive country that had never even witnessed the power of a wheel.
A spiteful world, England, the US and South Africa conspired to crush this peaceful and successful country by enabling a Marxist tyrant to destroy it. Now, like most other African countries run by single party despots, where corruption is a sport, have become a burden to the rest of the world. And what has happened to those interfering politicians? Knighthoods and grand pensions while the inhabitants suffer under corrupt dictatorships.
That is NOT what Mandela wanted. He wanted equality for all, which ironically now is considered racist. Not many kiwis know that even in nz, both the greens and the maori party have a first right of refusal policy on all pruvate land. On the maori party website, if you check
under policy and then check under box "mana motuhake" you will see the policy listed there. The grreens explain how farmers and home owners might be put onto a land register, and then when they wanted ro sell, they would have to ask iwi first. If the iwi didn't want to buy it then you would be allowed to put it on the open market. Sounds ok some might say, but what would that do to the value of your property? Who on the open market would be willing to buy it at the price it used to be worth given the new conditions?
If ever there was an object lesson for a) our population and b) our government then this is it! PM Luxon with his lacklustre appeasement of the forces similar to those in South Africa and Zimbabwe is strolling along like a lamb to the slaughter, thereby doing us and our Country a massive disservice. We as a family have had one foot on the escalator leading to the departure lounge and the flight back to Australia, the other foot is now following. The fact is that this lovely Country has since 1975 been on an inexorable path to full blown apartheid. Had we realised this and had done our homework prior to coming here in 2009 we would never have come but rose tinted specs and all that, we did. Bugga! We woke up to the woke during the appalling Ardern/Hipkins reign but frankly cannot understand why we did not cotton on much sooner. This is likely because like most of the population, we were simply getting on with life, we had a change of government and so the neon signs were not flashing brightly enough. Well, they are now. Unless something dramatic were to happen in the next wee while, which is highly unlikely, it is the exit lounge. It is not an easy decision but we have vacillated for way too long waiting for our politicians to step up and deal with the co-governance issue and the mind numbingly stupid, Treaty warping nonfeasance.
But surely later on when they revue their conscience, as here since the 1970s after the Land War confiscations, the losers will be generously rewarded so they emerge better off than if had been left in their ownership.
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