US President Donald Trump has said he will cut all future funding to South Africa over allegations that it was confiscating land and "treating certain classes of people very badly," BBC reported.
Last month, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill that allows land seizures without compensation in certain circumstances.
Land ownership has long been a contentious issue in South Africa with most private farmland owned by white people, 30 years after the end of the racist system of apartheid.
There have been continuous calls for the government to address land reform and deal with the past injustices of racial segregation.
South Africa's president responded to Trump by post on X: "South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land."
He added that the only funding South Africa received from the US was through the health initiative Pepfar, which represented "17 of South Africa's HIV/Aids programme".
According to US government data, the US allocated about $440m in assistance to South Africa in 2023.
Elon Musk, who was born and grew up in South Africa and is now a Trump adviser, has also joined in the debate, saying the new law discriminated against white people.
"Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?" Musk said to Ramaphosa in a post on X.
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