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The Democratic Alliance (DA), a key member of South Africa’s coalition government, has launched a legal challenge against the Expropriation Act, a controversial new land seizure law that has sparked tensions with US President Donald Trump.
The law allows the government to expropriate private land without compensation in certain cases, a move that has reignited debate over land reform in the country. Trump, citing concerns over land confiscations, responded by freezing foreign aid to South Africa, accusing the government of human rights violations.
South Africa’s government, led by the ruling ANC and comprising 10 coalition parties, dismissed Trump’s claims as “misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation.”
The ANC was forced into a power-sharing deal last year after losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in three decades in May’s general election.
Legal Battle Over Land Reform
The DA, the second-largest party in the coalition, argues that the Expropriation Act is unconstitutional and grants excessive powers to the government. The party also claims that President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the law into effect despite its objections.
Land ownership remains a deeply divisive issue in South Africa. Three decades after the end of apartheid, white South Africans still own most private farmland, fueling long-standing calls for land reform. However, the DA, a majority-white party, argues that the Expropriation Act echoes apartheid-era land seizures, warning that unchecked expropriation could undermine property rights for all South Africans.
“This history teaches us that true redress requires protecting property rights, ensuring that no government is ever given unchecked expropriation powers ever again,” the DA said in a statement.
US Response and Diplomatic Fallout
Trump’s executive order freezing aid stated that the US “cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country.” The White House also announced plans to assist in the resettlement of South African farmers and their families, prioritizing their admission as refugees under the US Refugee Admissions Program.
The ANC insists that no land has been seized without compensation and that expropriation would only occur under exceptional circumstances, such as for public use when all other options have been exhausted.
In response to the growing diplomatic row, President Ramaphosa has pledged to send envoys to various countries to clarify South Africa’s policy on land reform and the Expropriation Act.
