South Africa has a history of racial land inequality

South Africa has a history of racial land inequality

The so-called land question has been an unresolved problem for South Africa for decades. The apartheid, which ended in the 1990s, has deep roots legacy of land inequality left behind after centuries of expelling non-white South Africans from their land to benefit white citizens. A 1913 law limited black land ownership to just 7%, later adjusted to 13%.

Current situation of land ownership

Today, more than 100 years later, black people make up 81% of South Africa's 63 million people but own just 4% of private land, according to a 2017 government land audit.

Government plans to address historical injustices

A long-debated expropriation law signed last month by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa seeks to right some of the injustices of apartheid by allowing the government to expropriate and redistribute land. In certain cases, expropriation without compensation is permitted, but only if it is “just and fair and in the public interest.” To date, however, no expropriations of private property have taken place.

Racial Tensions and Controversies

The legislation is seen by advocates as necessary because in many rural areas large swathes of land are owned by white farmers, while black and non-white families have been pushed into overcrowded townships, CNN previously reported. But the controversial law has brought to the fore some of South Africa's long-standing racial tensions and inequalities and has now been seized upon by US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who claim it discriminates against white farmers.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, has accused Ramaphosa's coalition government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), of having "openly racist property laws". This stance was rejected by some white South Africans.

Voices against the allegations of discrimination

David Van Wyk, a resident of Bloemfontein, accused the billionaire of “making friends with the far right in the country,” which he described as “defenders of white privilege.” Van Wyk, 66, whose family runs mango and corn farms that export abroad, told CNN that Trump was "completely clueless" about inequalities in South Africa.

"It is nonsense for Trump to give the impression that whites in South Africa are victims. We (white South Africans) have incomes that are 10 to 20 times higher than the majority of the (black) population of South Africa," he added, noting that "the majority of black South Africans still own nothing in their ancestral land." Van Wyk argued that the expropriation law was necessary to address land inequalities in the country.

Reactions to the expropriation law

Others, however, believe the legislation attempts to do this “in a very heavy-handed way,” as Henk Smith, a lawyer for a nonprofit organization, the Land Access Movement of South Africa (LAMOSA), explained. Smith told CNN that he believes "fair and adequate compensation" must be paid for any expropriated land, except for land reclaimed from mining companies that abuse their licenses and state-owned companies that do not use their land productively.

US aid worth 440 million dollars stopped

In one Decree, which was signed on Friday, lifted Trump all aid for South Africa, arguing that this was in response to the government's "actions that fueled disproportionate violence against racially disadvantaged landowners", particularly White Afrikaners. Trump also used the order to condemn the country's stance toward Israel and the war in Gaza.

His order stipulated that the U.S. should not provide “any assistance or assistance to South Africa,” either through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) or through other executive agencies. This means that the $440 million South Africa receives in US aid - most of which goes to the health sector - was immediately stopped.

Ramaphosa raised concerns about the potential impact of the US government's decision to suspend some funding for HIV and TB programs in African countries for 90 days. He highlighted that these funds account for about 17% of the country's HIV spending. "We will not be discouraged. We are a resilient people and we will not be intimidated," Ramaphosa said.

Fears of trade restrictions

In the days after the order, he rushed to send a delegation to Washington to negotiate with the Trump administration before the war of words escalated further. However, many South Africans are concerned about what is not specifically mentioned in the decree. There are concerns that the Trump administration could remove the country's eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), a trade law that improves the market to the US for qualifying countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Removal from the Trade Act, which is up for renewal this year, would be a major blow to South Africa's agricultural economy, particularly citrus growers and the automotive industry.

Misunderstandings about land expropriations

A spokesman for South Africa's Department of International Affairs said the misrepresentation of the expropriation law was fueling "unfounded fears" about the targeting of white citizens. AgriSA, a trade organization for South African farmers, has also dismissed the claims of land expropriations as “disinformation”. AgriSA's executive director, Johann Kotze, said: "The unexpected signing of the Expropriation Bill on January 23, 2025 has caused political unrest and unnecessary tension within the agricultural system. This has been exacerbated by misinformation about the intentions of the Bill, which is negatively impacting the South African agricultural investment climate." Kotze added that no expropriations or confiscations of private property had taken place so far.

The Solidarity Movement, a network of African-speaking community institutions representing about 600,000 members, has said it condemns "the many racial laws that make us second-class citizens," including the Expropriation Law, but does not believe expropriations are taking place. Kallie Kriel, the leader of the right-wing lobby group AfriForum, said Trump was right that certain sectors of South African society were being “treated very badly.” “I think that's true, although people may deny it,” Kriel explained.

For years AfriForum has claimed, against the evidence, that there is possible ethnic cleansing and “large-scale killing” of white farmers. Her interview with Fox News led to one Tweet from Trump in 2018, when he first commented on the issue. But the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), an African research group, previously told CNN, that South Africa does not have a problem with farm murders, but rather a broader crime problem. The Murder rate has risen steadily since 2011 and Violent crime affects all parts of society.