It is a falsehood that the South African government enacted the Expropriation Act in order to seize the property of Afrikaners without compensation.
It is also inaccurate that Afrikaners are being persecuted. These were the words of former president Thabo Mbeki.
Mbeki was speaking on Monday at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s annual Aziz Pahad peace, security, and human rights dialogue in Pretoria.
The event was held under the theme Constitutionalism as the Foundation of Nation Building & Social Cohesion: 30 Years of Freedom, Equity, and Justice in Post-Apartheid South Africa.
Expropriation Bill signed into law
“The executive order that was signed by the American government in February said the Republic of South Africa enacted the Expropriation Act to enable the seizure of ethnic minority and Afrikaner property without compensation.
“Aziz [Pahad] would be shocked if he had listened to that. That is a false statement that is propagated.
“Why would America readily accept a falsehood of that kind? Why would an important government [America] in the world accept the falsehood like the claim that there is the body persecution of Afrikaners?” asked Mbeki.
In January, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Expropriation Bill, which repeals the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975 and sets out how organs of state may expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons.
In February, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut US financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its Expropriation Act and its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against America’s ally Israel.
According to the White House, the US will also develop a plan to resettle Afrikaner farmers and their families as refugees.
Ambassador to the US expeled
Three weeks ago, South Africa’s ambassador to the United States of America, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled from the country.
Rasool arrived back in South Africa at the Cape Town International Airport on March 23.
Last week, Mbeki criticised Rasool while speaking at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.
Mbeki said Rasool was not supposed to make negative statements about his host president, Trump. South Africa is yet to appoint a new ambassador to the US.
