South Africa will not be bullied, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a national address Thursday, after his government faced criticism from senior U.S. officials including President Donald Trump.
"We are
witnessing the rise of nationalism, protectionism, the pursuit of narrow
interests, and the decline of common cause," Ramaphosa said.
"This is
the world that we as South Africa, a developing economy, must now navigate, but
we are not daunted," he said. "We are, as South Africans, a resilient
people, and we will not be bullied."
Trump asserted
this week that South Africa was "confiscating" land via an
expropriation act signed last month, a charge the South African government
denies and has described as "misinformation".
The U.S.
leader, who is advised by South Africa-born Elon Musk, also accused Pretoria of
"treating certain classes of people very badly" and threatened to cut
funding to the country.
The act signed
by Ramaphosa last month stipulates the government may, in some circumstances,
offer "nil compensation" for property it decides to seize in the
public interest.
Land ownership
is a contentious issue in South Africa with most farmland still owned by white
people three decades after the end of apartheid and the government under
pressure to implement reforms.
Following
Trump's charge, Musk used his social media platform X to accuse Ramaphosa's
government of having "openly racist ownership laws".
#RAMAPHOSA: We are as South Africans a resilient people, and we will not be bullied.#RamaphosaOurPresident#ANCDelivers#SONA2025 pic.twitter.com/XVHRth1UJw
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) February 6, 2025
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