The party of South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma, on Monday, filed a treason complaint against AfriForum, an organization advocating for the white Afrikaner minority.
This action follows Donald Trump’s criticism of South Africa’s new law aimed at redistributing land owned by white individuals.
AfriForum has been lobbying against this law in U.S. media and political circles, framing it as part of a larger attack on Afrikaners. Zuma’s MK party accused AfriForum in their criminal complaint of spreading misinformation to sway Trump.
Last week, the U.S. president signed an executive order to cut financial assistance to South Africa, citing the land expropriation act and Pretoria’s genocide case against Israel—Washington’s close ally—at the International Court of Justice.
The Trump administration suggested that Afrikaners, who are descendants of predominantly Dutch settlers from the 17th century, could seek refuge in the United States.
This has given weight to AfriForum’s claim of persecution, a point contested by the South African government and most political parties.
The South African government defends the land reform law, arguing that it aims to address historical injustices. Officials have also countered claims of misinformation, highlighting that no land expropriations have yet occurred under the law.
Currently, white farmers own three-quarters of South Africa’s privately held land, while white individuals make up only 8% of the population. Trump’s comments have intensified the deep racial divisions that continue to exist in South Africa, more than 30 years after the end of apartheid, largely due to the significant inequality between racial groups.
MK is a populist opposition party that strongly advocates land redistribution and rose quickly to come third in last year’s general elections, taking significant support away from the ruling African National Congress, which lost its majority.
MK took its complaint against AfriForum to Cape Town’s central police station, where dozens of supporters wearing the party’s trademark green military camouflage outfits sang anti-apartheid freedom songs.
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