Trump Leaps Into South Africa’s Racially Charged Land Debate
- South African government calls meeting with U.S. ambassador
- Rand falls against dollar on speculation of economic fallout
This article is for subscribers only.
With legal questions mounting at home, U.S. President Donald Trump waded into South Africa’s racially charged debate about land reform, triggering a selloff in the rand.
Trump said in a tweet that he’s asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations.” He was intervening in a controversy about whether South Africa should implement a policy of seizing land without paying for it in a bid to address inequalities built up during apartheid and colonial rule.