Trump’s land tweet
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has done it again, firing off a 35-word tweet – this time about South Africa – that has ignited a welter of reaction in South Africa. It ranged yesterday from disapproving, even combative, to criticism of Trump’s style and his disruptive Twitter habit. There might even have been some relief in this country that a plea about the farming situation had been heard in the mighty Oval Office.
At least one analyst believes the upset will not amount to much, will not rock relations between countries. This may turn out to be so, but it would be folly to dismiss Trump’s busy thumbs, and his announcement that he had instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “closely study” land seizures, expropriations and “large-scale killing of farmers”.
Trump’s order will mean midnight oil for officials at the US Embassy in Pretoria, and at the Africa Desk in the State Department’s headquarters at Foggy Bottom in Washington, DC. They will have to counsel Pompeo and Trump on whether what the president heard reflected the true position in this country. The Trump tweet highlighted the gravity of the intended expropriation without compensation plan. It also alerted US diplomats here and officials in Washington, DC to the US president’s personal interest in South Africa’s land and farm deaths issues, and that he will be expecting updates on developments. The watchfulness will not end with the initial report to Pompeo and Trump.
Hours before the Trump tweet, President Cyril Ramaphosa denied a land grab. He again insisted in Parliament on Wednesday that land expropriation without compensation should boost the economy and food security, and be orderly. This was his cautionary line from the outset, when he confirmed his government’s intention to pursue the change.
Clearly Ramaphosa realised, even before the tweet, the ramifications of a process that did not measure up to his stated conditions. He was plainly concerned that expropriation should not unravel into mob chaos, Zimbabwe style. The Trump message merely confirmed what Ramaphosa already knew: that every perceived injustice in the process would be recorded and conveyed passionately to the world. There is, however, some ready assistance for our government in achieving its goal on the land issue: deserted, unproductive farms, and great tracts of state land that can satisfy a lot of the land hunger in South Africa.