One week after Trump warned South Africa about its controversial land confiscation reform in which some white-owned land could be expropriated without compensation, moments ago Bloomberg reported that South Africa has withdrawn its land expropriation bill in what appears to be another victory for Trump’s unorthodox foreign policy.
Last Wednesday, seemingly following a story by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, President Trump tweeted that he has asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations” raising concerns that the U.S. might target South Africa with possible sanctions next.
I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. “South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.” @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2018
Trump wasn’t the only one to voice concern, and recent the South African rand had tumbled amid fears how this policy could affect the economy.
Well, if the following Bloomberg headline is accurate, it will no longer be a concern:
- *S. AFRICA EXPRORIATION BILL WITHDRAWN AMID CONSTITUTION REVIEW
While the market’s kneejerk response has been positive, with the rand jumping on the news…
… there has been virtually no detail and this could be merely a trial balloon headfake. As some have noted, the withdrawal of the bill now would be not only surprising, but premature, as the parliamentary committee tasked with land reform on Section 25 of the constitution is not expected to decide until September 27.
Furthermore, recall that as we reported yesterday, South Africa’s “Black Hitler”, Julius Malema said that he is prepared to die if it means South Africa will achieve land expropriation without compensation.
Additionally, Malema has accused President Ramaphosa and the Democratic Alliance (DA) of colluding with AfriForum to sabotage plans to expropriate land without compensation. A decade ago few people had heard of Malema. Now he commands millions and grows more powerful each day.
Developing story.
via RSS https://ift.tt/2MVnHdw Tyler Durden