EFF leader Julius Malema speaks to supporters in the Northern Cape. Picture: EFF/X
The EFF has lambasted US President Donald Trump’s executive order against South Africa, claiming those who follow it should be stripped of their SA citizenship.
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.
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 Action SA leader Herman 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 on social media, 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.
Speaking to The Citizen, Mashaba said that Ramaphosa had “failed the country” by not taking holding those who spread false information to account.
“As a South African, I am disappointed and angry that we have South Africans who go out in the world and spread false narratives and fake news about our country. They speak about widespread land expropriation and human rights violations, but where is the evidence?”
He said many were disappointed with how the country was run, but it could never be an excuse to share divisive statements, fabrications, and misinformation.
“With all the mistakes of the ANC, of which there are many, we have a duty to build this country together and aim for racial harmony.”
Meanwhile, the EFF labelled Trump a “maniac” and his order as “illogical”.
“This [order] is a testament to the erratic nature of policy-making that has overtaken US foreign policy, which is controlled by emotions and misinformation.
It said anyone who seeks refuge in the US because of the order should be stripped of their SA citizenship.
“South Africa must revoke the citizenship of any individual who assumes refugee status in the USA on the basis of this Executive Order, as it would be a declaration of the belief that South Africa’s laws, which seek to promote equality and social cohesion are not in sync with such an individual’s values.
“No one is being persecuted in South Africa, and to flee to the USA under this pretence should result in an immediate revoking of citizenship.
“No one who flees to the USA on the basis of misinformation and in support of an attack of our sovereignty should retain South African citizenship.”
The party further called for South Africa to strengthen ties with fellow BRICS countries China and Russia “to avoid unnecessary confrontations with maniacs such as Donald Trump”.
“The USA, under the leadership of Donald Trump, is progressively isolating the world by imposing tariffs and sanctions on nations who refuse to bow to their authority and imperialist actions, and will soon dwindle into insignificance because no one will have an interest in trading or relating to them as a nation,” it predicted.
ALSO READ: Trump’s SA executive order: Government slams ‘propoganda’, takes shots at US refugee system
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
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”.
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 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
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