Johannesburg, 20 February, 2025 / 10:01 pm (ACI Africa).
The Justice and Peace Commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has called for “racial reconciliation” in response to ongoing land reform disputes between South Africa and the United States government.
In early February, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa reportedly signed the Expropriation Act into law, permitting the South African government to seize land without compensation. This policy aims to address historical land disparities favoring the country’s white minority.
President Donald Trump has criticized the move, stating, “South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly.” In response, he issued an executive order suspending all aid to South Africa, citing concerns over alleged discrimination against white Afrikaners.
In an interview with the SACBC Communication Office, the Director of the SACBC Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) Fr. Stan Muyebe said the recent dispute between the two governments has reopened the wounds of land injustices during the Apartheid era in the Southern African nation.
He said that South Africa is still trying to recover from its “painful past of apartheid, painful history for a lot of people.”