Washington (Quds News Network)- US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order suspending aid to South Africa, citing the country’s growing ties with Iran and its stance at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where it accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
The United States allocated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, the most recent US government data shows.
Among the reasons cited for the decision were South Africa’s “aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”
South Africa brought its case to the ICJ in December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has strongly rejected the accusations, describing South Africa’s filing as a “despicable and contemptuous exploitation of the Court.” In an initial ruling in January 2024, the court ordered Israel to restrain its attacks in Gaza, and in May it ordered it to immediately halt its military offensive in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza.
“The United States cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country or its undermining United States foreign policy, which poses national security threats to our Nation, our allies, our African partners, and our interests,” the order added.
The White House said Washington will also formulate a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.
It said US officials will take steps to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa, who are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers.
Trump has claimed, without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and that “certain classes of people” were treated “very badly.” South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, has said that white South Africans have been the victims of “racist ownership laws.”
