PRETORIA, February 4. /TASS/. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke over the phone with US entrepreneur Elon Musk, a native South African who now finds himself very close to US President Donald Trump, over their twisting of South Africa’s new expropriation law, the South African presidential administration said.
According to it, Ramaphosa and Musk discussed "issues of misinformation and distortions about South Africa." "The President reiterated South Africa's constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality," it wrote on its X page.
US President Donald Trump warned on February 3 that Washington will halt any funding for South Africa until an investigation into alleged human rights violations in the country is conducted. He claimed that South Africa "is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people very badly." In response, Ramaphosa said he wanted to talk with Trump to clear the air and discuss bilateral relations.
On January 23, the South African president signed a law allowing the country to seize land without compensation. The law overrides a previous norm under which farming lands could be sold only with the consent of its owner to a particular buyer.