Trump’s tweet seen as fightback
‘Minority put land on international agenda’
US president Donald Trump has clearly shown his disapproval for SA and his recent tweet indicates that his bread is buttered on the white landowners’ side.
This is the view of political analyst Dumisani Hlophe who said Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum was not taking the matter of land expropriation without compensation lightly, thus its mobilisation of the international community.
“Those that have the land see this issue as a fight for ownership... so this is a fightback. What you see is basically a struggle to retain their property, so it’s highly possible they will mobilise across the borders for the defence of what they have regardless of how they got it,” Hlophe said.
His remarks follow a tweet by Trump late on Wednesday where he said he had tasked his secretary of state Mike Pompeo to study the SA land and farm seizures, including the “largescale killing of farmers”.
Since ascending to the White House in 2016, Trump has not deployed a US ambassador to SA after Patrick Gaspard bid farewell just a month after Trump’s election.
Hlophe added: “Trump has made it clear he is for Americans first… so South Africa can only be relevant to the extent it will benefit Americans.”
Analyst Koffi Kouakou shared Hlophe’s sentiments.
“Small minority groups and right-wing activists like Freedom Front Plus and AfriForum have strategically manoeuvred to put this issue on the international agenda of white supremacists and they have succeeded very well.” “Their support is growing and with the tweet of Trump, it will also elevate it at a much more ethnic racial base to really stir the tensions. President Trump’s tweet can make life harder for South African politicians.”
He warned that the tweet has economic, financial and reputational costs for the country and Trump has the power to drive those down if he is serious about the issue of land expropriation.
On Wednesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa told parliament the debate on land expropriation had run its course and opponents of the policy should accept it as the only way to prevent SA from sliding into political instability.
International relations department spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said: “It is regrettable that the tweet is based on false information. The minister [Lindiwe Sisulu] has thus instructed the department to meet the US embassy in Pretoria to seek clarification on the matter.” The US embassy’s Carrie Schneider declined to comment.
See page 13