By Amy Musgrave and Simon Nare
US President Donald Trump’s threats to cut off funds to South Africa over its newly adopted land expropriation law had many South African politicians and government leaders outraged on Monday.
His new threat, plans on US tariff increases and a freeze on foreign aid that will impact countries on the continent to varying degrees, formed part of many discussions during the first day of the African Mining Indaba in Cape Town.
South Africans woke up to the news on Monday morning that Trump would cut off all future funding to the country, pending an investigation into the Expropriation Act.
“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention,” he posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
“A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see. 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!”
Opening the yearly indaba, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe did not mince his words when he hit back at Trump over his posts.
He said that while Africa with all its minerals was proud to share them with the world, it could not be to the detriment of the continent.
“If they don’t give us money, let’s not give them minerals. They take our minerals and then they say we are withdrawing funding. So, therefore, we have something that we have. We have something; we are not just beggars. So, we must just use that endowment for out benefit as a continent,” Mantashe told dignitaries.
He warned that if the continent was paralysed with fear, it would collapse.
While the Democratic Alliance accused Mantashe of “reckless utterances [that] were a national embarrassment”, other political leaders said Trump had no business interfering with South Africa.
They also lashed out at trade union Solidarity and civil rights group AfriForum for appealing to the US to punish the country as anti-democratic.
The GOOD Party’s Brett Herron warned that this was tantamount to economic treason.
The African National Congress criticised AfriForum for weaponising misinformation, saying it was unacceptable for lobby groups to seek external intervention against a sovereign country’s domestic policies, especially policies that sought to address the legacy of land dispossession.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola took a more diplomatic approach on X.
“We trust that President Trump’s advisors will leverage this investigative period to deepen their understanding of South Africa’s policies as a constitutional democracy. Such insights will ensure a respectful and informed approach to our democratic commitments,” he posted.
The mining sector is South Africa’s largest source of income, while the continent holds around 30% of the world’s mineral reserves.
The indaba under the theme “Future-Proofing African Mining, Today”, ends on Thursday.
INSIDE POLITICS
