Trump cannot threaten South Africa as America’s Aid is just 17% of South Africa HIVAID’s programme—Cyril Ramaphosa blasts Trump

South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday dares his United States counterpart, Donald Trump over the his threat to cut funding to the African nation after accusing it of “confiscating” land and “treating certain classes of people very badly.”

Trump on Sunday announced he was cutting off all future funding to the country pending an investigation.

“South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people very badly. I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Later, in a briefing with journalists, Trump said that South Africa’s “leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things” without giving examples.

In his response on Monday via his X handle, Ramaphosa noted that the democratic nation of South Africa respects the rule of law, justice and equity, noting that the government hasn’t “confiscated any land.”

With regards to the funding cut as disclosed by Trump, Ramaphosa, while acknowledging the US as a significant “political and trade partner,” corrected that South Africa only benefits from the US-funded “PEPFAR Aid, which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIVAids programme.”