Trump cuts aid to South Africa over white minority rights

U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his promise to punish South Africa by signing an executive order stopping all aid to the country over what he called a human rights violation against a white minority group.

Many in Johannesburg said on Saturday they disagreed with Trump's move.

“There's no such thing that I've read or experienced or seen on our social media in South Africa that really has a connotation around white people being mistreated in this country. He should have actually come from the Americas to South Africa to try and see what was happening for himself and not just take the word of an Elon Musk who hasn't lived in this country for the longest of time, who doesn't even relate to South Africans.”

The Trump administration said the South African government was allowing violent attacks against Afrikaner farming communities.

Konrad Smuts is a local resident:

“We have to carry our own weight, okay? And I believe we are, for a developing country, I believe we are carrying our support. We do need support from external countries, but that support has to be without any consequences or lines. You know, we should only take support that is given without any lines attached, whether it's China or the USA. The support should be to help people, not to influence the country politically.”

Land distribution in South Africa has been a complicated and highly emotive issue with racial connotations for more than 30 years since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994.