‘SA can’t afford to be fixing fake news engineered by traitors’- Mashaba on Trump’s executive order

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has lambasted US President Donald Trump’s executive order against South Africa, questioning who it is that is chasing South Africans out of the country.

Trump signed an executive order against South Africa on Friday, alleging human rights issues.

The White House said the order was in response to SA’s land policy that allows its government to “seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation” and SA’s genocide case against US ally Israel at the International Court of Justice.

ALSO READ: Trump signs executive order against SA, promises to resettle Afrikaans ‘victims of racial discrimination’ as refugees

Mashaba calls out ‘traitors’

SA President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed the controversial Expropriation Act into law, which allows for the expropriation of land with nil compensation if it is in the public interest.

An act that Mashaba suggests has been misrepresented in Washington.

“To be honest, let Trump’s administration carry out his executive orders.

“South Africa cannot afford to deal with foreign governments that expect us to fix fake news and mischaracterisation of events engineered by traitors of our country,” Mashaba said in what can be seen as a veiled dig at Elon Musk.

Musk was born in South Africa and heads Trump’s newly-created Department of Government Efficiency advisory group.

Mashaba said Trump had no power to decide on SA policy or negotiate on behalf of its citizens.

The Citizen has requested additional comment from Mashaba. This will be included once received.

ALSO READ: Trump’s SA executive order: Government slams ‘propoganda’, takes shots at US refugee system

Resettlement of Afrikaans people as refugees

Among the instructions outlined in Friday’s order was for the US Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate steps “to prioritise humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Programme, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination”.

Mashaba suggested those who felt they were being discriminated against should look into Trump’s “offer”.

Afrikaans civil rights organisation AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel told The Citizen the organisation had noted Trump’s order but was committed to staying in South Africa.

“We have an appreciation for the fact that the US recognises the discrimination experienced by Afrikaners at the moment, but we do, however, see the future of Afrikaners in Africa.

“We were formed as a people in Africa and can only survive as a cultural community on the southern top of Africa.

ALSO READ: ‘We are here to stay’- AfriForum respond to Trump’s plans to resettle Afrikaaners as refugees

Trump suspends refugee programme

The order comes weeks after Trump ordered the suspension of all refugee admissions into the US and the reconfiguration of the admissions programme.

He claimed his country “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees”.  

Trump’s battle with SA

Last month, Trump froze key HIV/AIDS funding from the US to SA as part of his “America First” agenda.

He followed this up on earlier this week with a social media post slamming South Africa’s newly signed Expropriation Act, claiming the government is “confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly”. The claims have been denied by SA President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ministers.

In the diplomatic storm that has followed, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pull out of an upcoming G20 summit in Johannesburg, claiming “anti-Americanism”.

NOW READ: Trump’s SA executive order: The ANC, DA and GNU’s conundrum