In response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to cut all financial aid to South Africa amid White farmers’ allegations of attacks and seizures of their land in the Rainbow country, President Cyril Ramaphosa has hit back at his American counterpart.

Mr Ramaphisa said the U.S. only contributes minimally to its HIV/AIDS funding.

Mr Ramaphosa dismissed the threat, stating that the U.S. only contributes to 17 per cent of its funding for HIV/AIDS, which is a huge contrast to Nigeria, which heavily depends on the U.S. for 86 per cent of its funding to control HIV/AIDS.

“With the exception of PEPFAR Aid, which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programme, there is no other funding that is received by South Africa from the United States,” Mr Ramaphosa said in a statement on Monday.

Mr Ramaphosa’s statement was a response to an earlier pronouncement by Mr Trump that the U.S. would no longer provide foreign aid to South Africa, citing accusations that the country is treating certain classes of people very badly and confiscating their land.

Out of about $669 million Nigeria spent to control HIV/AIDS and other diseases in 2024, $573 million came from the United States, while only $96 million came from Nigeria, according to data obtained from the U.S. Congress and Nigeria’s health agency. South Africa received $448 million from the U.S. in the same year, although it was unclear how much the country spent on HIV/AIDS control.

At 9.2 million, South Africa has the largest population of people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. In contrast, Nigeria only has about 1.9 million living with the disease as of 2024.

It is not the first time that the U.S. has sanctioned countries for its land reform policies on properties owned by the White population in Southern Africa. 

Between 2000 and 2001 in Zimbabwe, thousands of White farmers were forced out of their property following a land reform programme enacted by then-President Robert Mugabe, resulting in sanctions by the U.S. and the European Union.

However, the South African president insisted that the recently signed Expropriation Act is not meant to grab land from White farmers forcibly but is a legal framework to ensure the land can be utilised for public benefit.

“The recently adopted Expropriation Act is not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensures public access to land in an equitable and just manner as guided by the constitution,” Mr Ramaphosa said.