africa.com
africa.com
Top 10 News

South Africa’s Land Inequalities Are More Than Trump and Musk’s Narratives

By SG Editor·
Panoramic view of lush green fields in Africa, highlighting agricultural development and rural lands.

Showcasing Africa’s fertile lands and farming regions leading in economic growth and innovation.

US President Donald Trump and his South African-born ally Elon Musk are two of the biggest critics of South Africa’s new expropriation act, which they claim discriminates against White landowners. The duo’s stance ignores centuries of policies that have disenfranchised non-White South Africans and propagated the land inequality. In 1913, the then South African government passed an act that limited land ownership by Black people to a mere 7%, later revising it to 13%. Now, more than 100 years later, non-White South Africans only own 4% of the nation’s private lands despite making up 81% of its population. The new expropriation act seeks to address these historical injustices and redistribute unused land. However, contrary to what Trump and Musk claimed, it permits the government to take over property without compensation only when fair negotiations fail.

Source: CNN