![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/TRUMP-executive-order.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOn Friday, 7 February 2025, Trump signed an executive order<\/a><\/strong> formalising his earlier announcement that he would freeze assistance to South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House criticised the recently signed expropriation without compensation Act, which opens the door for the state to take land without paying for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It argued the law amounts to discrimination against the white minority population. \u201cThe government of South Africa blatantly discriminates against ethnic minority Afrikaners,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump said the law follows countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also criticised hateful rhetoric and government actions fuelling disproportionate violence against racially disfavoured landowners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House added that South Africa continues to support bad actors on the world stage and allows violent attacks on innocent, disfavoured minority farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It said the United States would stop aid and assistance to the country until this behaviour stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House added that Trump is going to announce a program to resettle Afrikaners, including farmers and their families, as refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief,\u201d the order said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It includes admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Joel Pollak, the frontrunner to become the United States\u2019 Ambassador to South Africa, also slated South Africa\u2019s transformation policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pollak said South Africa has adopted economic and foreign policies that are not aligned with Western norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He explained that race-based policies, like black economic empowerment, are a problem for investors and opposed to what the United States is doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He explained that the United States has no appetite for racial policies in investment or anywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pollak added that South Africa focuses on redressing the past instead of building a better future. \u201cThe world is tired of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pollak said Trump wanted to see those policies changed and would play hardball to see it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many stakeholders expected South Africa and the United States to use the G20 Summit in Johannesburg as a platform to mend relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this was dealt a blow after the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said he wouldn\u2019t attend the G20 in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rubio cited South Africa\u2019s new land-expropriation law as one of the many reasons why he is snubbing the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSouth Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote solidarity, equality, and sustainability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said South Africa will use the summit to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and climate change, opposing their standpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy job is to advance America\u2019s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa\u2019s International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said he would continue to engage the United States on South Africa’s laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said they hoped Trump would visit South Africa before the G20 Summit, where the heads of state could meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Renowned economist Dawie Roodt said South Africa must realise that Donald Trump is the most powerful man in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe is in charge of the biggest economy in the world. Whatever he says or does will have a huge impact on South Africa,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDonald Trump only saying a few things saw the South African rand weakening,\u201d he said, illustrating the power of Trump\u2019s words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decisions like kicking South Africa out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), implementing tariffs, or even imposing sanctions will have a huge impact on the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In comparison, the United States economy is so large that it will hardly feel the impact of such a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roodt advised the South African government to be as diplomatic as possible and be politically neutral internationally. \u201cSouth Africa should try to be friends with everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He explained that the Chinese, Americans, and Europeans are all very important to South Africa\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have to be extremely careful on how we approach the Donald Trump Administration,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen he wakes up one morning and is angry with South Africa he can inflict horrible pain on the local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhether you like him or not, you have to be on the good side of Donald Trump because he is the top dog.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is that South Africa\u2019s politicians seem to realise the gravity of the situation and are trying to manage it as best they can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" South Africa\u2019s new expropriation without compensation law and race-based business policies have made it a target of the Trump administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":808337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1293,1459,10849,2662,21655,19567,853],"class_list":["post-810608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-dawie-roodt","tag-donald-trump","tag-elon-musk","tag-joel-pollak","tag-ronald-lamola","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810608"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811156,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810608\/revisions\/811156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Other United States politicians weigh in on South Africa<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Economist Dawie Roodt shares his view<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>