Key topics:
- Trump and Musk’s narrative: They fuel claims of white victimhood in South Africa.
- Land reform debate: The 2024 Expropriation Act is misrepresented as racial persecution.
- Political shifts: The ANC’s decline signals evolving divisions beyond race.
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BizNews Reporter ___STEADY_PAYWALL___
A recent article in The New Yorker (“Make South Africa Great Again”) offers a striking assessment of South Africa’s current political landscape, particularly how it is perceived by the American left. The piece explores the impact of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze aid to South Africa and grant refugee status to white Afrikaners, as well as Elon Musk’s vocal support for claims that the South African government is targeting the country’s white minority.
William Shoki, editor of Africa Is a Country and a member of Amandla! magazine’s editorial collective, argues that Trump and Musk have amplified a narrative portraying white South Africans—especially Afrikaners—as a besieged minority under threat from the government’s land reform policies. This has emboldened right-wing activists both in South Africa and internationally, bringing previously fringe views into the political mainstream. A recent far-right rally at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, where participants sang the apartheid-era anthem “Die Stem” and displayed banners reading “Make South Africa Great Again,” underscores the growing traction of this narrative.
At the heart of the controversy is the 2024 Expropriation Act, which replaces apartheid-era land policies and provides a framework for land expropriation for public use, with provisions allowing for no compensation in specific cases deemed just and equitable by the courts. Shoki refutes claims that this law enables Zimbabwe-style land seizures, explaining that it aims to facilitate land reform while ensuring due process. The act shifts away from the previous “willing buyer, willing seller” model, instead considering a range of factors—including the property’s history, current use, and public benefit—when determining compensation. Despite these legal safeguards, critics in the international right-wing media have seized upon the law as evidence of alleged racial persecution.
Shoki emphasizes that, while race remains an influential factor in South African politics, the country’s social and political divisions have evolved significantly in the three decades since apartheid. The 2024 elections marked a pivotal shift, with the African National Congress (ANC) losing its majority for the first time since 1994, signaling broader discontent among the Black majority rather than a simple Black-vs.-white dynamic. However, Trump and Musk’s rhetoric has reignited racial tensions, giving voice to Afrikaner nationalist sentiment and stirring fears of economic marginalization among white South Africans.
The article highlights how South Africa’s post-apartheid trajectory is often misrepresented by far-right commentators, who use the land reform debate to fuel racial grievance politics. While acknowledging the real economic and social struggles that persist, Shoki warns against external actors distorting historical and political realities for ideological purposes. He suggests that South Africa’s future stability depends on addressing inequality and fostering inclusive economic growth rather than succumbing to divisive racial narratives.
Read also:
- EWC, BEE setting up Godongwana and GNU for failure – IRR
- Steenhuisen slams ANC’s ‘disastrous’ VAT hike plan—DA fights back
- The speech that wasn’t: FinMin Enoch Godongwana’s 2025 Budget speech that Parliament never heard
(This article is a précis of a piece originally published in The New Yorker and can be read in full here.)
