United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced he will not attend the upcoming G20 talks in South Africa, citing concerns over the country’s controversial land expropriation law. This decision comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to South Africa in response to the new legislation allowing the seizure of land without compensation.
Rubio’s decision was met with criticism from opponents of the Trump administration, who warned that by not being at the table, America would be on the menu. Trump had accused South Africa of mistreating certain classes of people and confiscating land, while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa defended the law as a necessary step to address historic disparities in land ownership.
The law signed by Ramaphosa allows the government to seize land without compensation in certain cases, such as when a property is unused or an agreement cannot be reached with the owner. Land ownership has long been a contentious issue in South Africa, where Black South Africans make up the majority of the population but own only a small percentage of privately owned farmland.
The main opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, has expressed concern about the law undermining property rights and potentially deterring foreign investment. Trump’s threat to cut aid to South Africa adds to tensions between the two countries, with the US government currently freezing most foreign assistance. Washington allocated approximately $440 million in aid to South Africa in 2023.
Overall, the decision by Rubio to skip the G20 talks highlights the growing tensions between the US and South Africa over the land expropriation law, with implications for foreign aid and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
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