Donald Trump accused the South African government of “treating certain classes of people very badly (Image: Getty)
The president of Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken to as he looks to calm tensions following a row with the White House.
has said he will cut all funding to South Africa, claiming a “massive human rights violation” is happening due to a new land expropriation law.
Mr Musk, who was born and raised in South Africa and is a close adviser to Mr Trump, also criticised the legislation on his social media platform X asking why Mr Ramaphosa had “openly racist ownership laws”.
Errol Musk, Elon’s father, told Reuters he organised the call between the pair after being contacted by Mr Ramaphosa’s PA.
, Mr Ramaphosa’s office said the President and Mr Musk spoke on “on issues of misinformation and distortions about South Africa”.
:
Yesterday, 3 February 2025, President spoke to on issues of misinformation and distortions about South Africa. In the process, the President reiterated South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice,…
— The Presidency ???????????? (@PresidencyZA)
The post added: “In the process, the President reiterated South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality.”
Mr Trump claimed on his Truth Social platform that the new law is “confiscating land” and “treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY”.
He added: “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!”
The South African government on Monday hit back at the claims, saying the Trump administration needed to have a better understanding of the new law, which is meant to help redress the impact of decades of white minority rule in South Africa under the apartheid regime, which ended in 1994.
In a statement, Mr Ramaphosa denied any suggestion that the government had “confiscated” any land.
The US gave South Africa more than £250m in aid in 2024 (Image: Getty)
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The government says people’s rights are still protected and land can only be taken in specific circumstances where it’s not being used productively and it’s in the public interest that the land is redistributed, with the race of the land owner not a factor.
The law has faced some criticism, with concerns it could lead to the seizure of land from some of the country’s white minority.
There are also fears it could lead to a situation similar to what happened in Zimbabwe when seizures had a significant impact on the economy.
The South African government has long faced calls to address land reform, with land ownership remaining very unequal.
, a report by the South African government in 2017 said that 72% of all private farmland was white-owned.
The country’s 2022 census found white people make up 7.3% of the population, the report added.