Washington [US], February 9: President Donald Trump signed an executive order to cut U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, the White House said on Friday, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally Israel.
The United States allocated nearly $440 million in assistance to South Africa in 2023, the most recent U.S. government data shows.
South Africa's foreign ministry said on Saturday the executive order "lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid."
The White House said Washington will also formulate a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.
It said U.S. officials would 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.
South Africa's foreign ministry said: "It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the U.S. for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the U.S. from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship."
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
