iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “closely study” South Africa land seizures and “the large scale” killings of farmers there, according to a recent tweet.
Trump made the announcement via Twitter late Wednesday in the wake of a highly contentious plan by the South African government that would allow for the expropriation of land without compensation. The tweet appeared to make reference to a Wednesday-night Fox News report that linked the proposed measure to racism and alleged murders of white farmers.
“I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. ‘South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.’ @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews,'” Trump tweeted.
Trump posted the tweet around 10:30 p.m. EST, shortly after Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” aired a report that called the seizures “far more racist than anything Donald Trump has ever done.”
“South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has just begun the process of seizing land from his own citizens, without compensation, purely due to their skin color,” Carlson said. “That’s far more racist than anything Donald Trump has ever done, of course, but elites in America barely even care.”
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa announced earlier that the ruling African National Congress had agreed to alter the country’s constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation. The measure has not been signed into law.
The South African Government mentioned Trump in a pair of tweets sent from its official Twitter account on Thursday, saying it “totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past. #landexpropriation @realDonaldTrump @PresidencyZA.”
“South Africa will speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation,” it added in a subsequent tweet, tagging Trump.
Ramaphosa said the land-reform measure is “key to stability” as whites control a vast majority of the country’s land, while blacks make up nearly 80 percent of the country’s population.
He said the proposal, if signed into law, would help heal the “festering wound” of land dispossession and inequality, although critics say it would disenfranchise white citizens.
“The urban spatial patterns that we inherited from apartheid, and which persist to this day, contribute to the reproduction of poverty and inequality — and must be fundamentally changed,” Ramaphosa said this week in a statement. “It is unacceptable that the working class and poor, who are overwhelmingly black, are located far from work opportunities and amenities.”
South Africa’s ANC-government has been expropriating and redistributing land for years, but it has not passed any legislation to allow for expropriation without compensation as of yet. The proposal is currently being debated in parliament and via local referendums.
South African Deputy President David Mabuza aimed to dispel “falsehoods” associated with the proposal while speaking at a land summit on Tuesday.
“We would like to discourage those who are using this sensitive and emotive issue of land to divide us as South Africans by distorting our land reform measures to the international community, and spreading falsehoods that our ‘white farmers’ are facing the onslaught from their own government. This is far from the truth,” Mabuza said in prepared remarks. “Land has always been a sensitive matter, and it is at the heart of ordinary people’s daily struggles for economic participation and social empowerment.”
“As the leadership of the ANC and government,” Mabuza added, “we are clear that the implementation of land reform measures must not result in social fractures and racial polarization.”
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