White Supremacy and Land Reform in South Africa: Trump’s Reaction and the Realities

On January 24, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a land reform law aimed at addressing the country’s historical injustices in land ownership. Rather than granting privileges to specific individuals, the law seeks to establish a framework prioritizing the public interest.

In South Africa, where 82% of the land is arable, farmland was allocated exclusively to whites during apartheid, while Black indigenous people’s land rights were severely restricted under the 1913 Land Act. This legislation nearly eliminated the right of Black South Africans to own land, leaving them with only 7% of farmland. A 1936 amendment raised the allocation to 13%, yet white dominance over landownership persisted throughout apartheid and beyond.

By the time apartheid ended in 1994, white farmers still controlled over 77% of arable land. The country’s first democratically elected government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), set a goal of redistributing 30% of white-owned land to Black farmers by 2014, echoing the principle of the ANC’s first president, John Dube: “Without land, you cannot be a people.” Yet as of 2025, some 44,000 white farmers still own 61% of agricultural land. In a country of 64.5 million, the population is 81.4% Black, 7.3% white, 8.2% mixed-race, and 2.7% of Indian or Asian descent.

Why Did Trump Oppose the Land Law?

Since the end of apartheid, land reform has been less about fair redistribution to Black citizens and more about the symbolic restoration of Black authority. Within the Black population, class divisions also deepened: elites grew wealthier, while the majority remained landless and economically marginalized.

Instead of supporting the law as a step toward addressing historic injustices, the White House sparked controversy. Donald Trump claimed that white South Africans were having their farms seized and being mistreated, threatening to halt all U.S. aid to the country.

On his first day in office (January 20), Trump closed America’s doors to all refugees. Yet just 18 days later, he signed an executive order directing officials to grant refugee status to white South Africans (Afrikaners). Four days before this order, Trump’s senior advisor, South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, had declared on X that South Africa had “racist land ownership laws.”

While Trump remained silent about the millions displaced by conflicts in Congo and Sudan, he suddenly shifted tone when the victims were white Africans.

For generations, white South Africans acquired 77% of farmland not through purchase but through forced expropriation and discriminatory laws. Yet when a law designed to favor the historically dispossessed Black majority was introduced, it was portrayed as “unfair to the white elite.”

Although Trump’s opposition appeared rooted in protecting white interests, South Africa’s support for Palestine, its lawsuit against Israel, its BRICS membership, and its growing ties with China all likely influenced his harsh reaction.

White Supremacy Must Prevail

Contrary to Trump’s claims, white South Africans are not the ones facing injustice. It is the Black majority who remain excluded from landownership, unable to farm their own land, and forced into low-wage agricultural labor. Many migrate to urban areas in search of work, only to encounter unemployment and end up in informal settlements with poor living conditions. Meanwhile, the narrative of “white victimhood” grows louder among the wealthy elite.

AfriForum, a white civil society group, amplifies stories of white victims of farm murders while downplaying or ignoring the killings of Black South Africans—deploying manipulative propaganda. When Trump responded with support, Afrikaners claimed that refugee status in the U.S. would strip them of their cultural identity, insisting instead: “We are the natives of this land, and we are not going anywhere.” Their true aim, however, is clear: preserving privileged elite status and maintaining white supremacy in South Africa.

The reality is that South Africa’s white elite are unlikely to give up their vast farms—where generations of Black laborers still toil for subsistence wages—and their access to cheap services like domestic workers, chauffeurs, and gardeners. Why would they trade a life of privilege for the uncertainties of refugee life abroad?

The stark divide between white and Black communities in South Africa remains visible even today. In fact, the country is home to Orania, an all-white town where Black South Africans are not permitted to live.

A small group of whites staging a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy on February 15, supposedly to demand refugee rights, was nothing more than a performative act. And it is questionable whether less affluent white South Africans are even aware of the complexities of U.S. refugee laws and the lengthy application process.

Aid Cuts Hurt Whites Too

Trump’s threat to cut aid to South Africa could indeed harm health and food programs, negatively affecting the general population. Yet in the long term, this move should push African nations to reconsider their dependence on foreign aid.

What Trump likely overlooked is that his threat would disproportionately impact South Africa’s white landowners. South Africa is the largest beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants duty-free access to U.S. markets. Much of this trade comes from agricultural products—dominated by white-owned farms. In effect, Trump’s decision to punish South Africa for its land reform would end up hurting the very group he claimed to defend.

While temporary negotiations may ease tensions between the two countries, the broader issue remains: unless African nations, including South Africa, develop bold and independent economic and political strategies, they will continue to face such threats and external pressures.

Africa’s future depends on reducing reliance on foreign aid, utilizing its resources more effectively, and building resilient, self-sufficient economies. Only then can the continent shape its own destiny free from the pressures of global powers.

 

This article was originally published in Independent Türkçe, on March 12, 2025.

https://www.indyturk.com/node/755123/ty