FMR GREEK MINISTER TO S. AFRICA: DON'T BEG THE U.S.

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis on X) says South Africa should not cower before the Trump administration in the ongoing rift between Pretoria and Washington.

During an exclusive 25 March interview with South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) International News Editor Sophie Mokoena (@Sophie_Mokoena on X), Varoufakis urged South Africa to take the fallout with the US as an opportunity to reduce dependency on Western markets and aid.

South Africa has been in Trump's crosshairs in recent weeks over what he views as an ‘anti-white’ land reform law that seeks to redress long-standing inequities. In February, Trump cut US financial support to South Africa's HIV/AIDS response programme, and he offered the US as a refuge to South African white settlers.

The law seeks to redress the legacy of apartheid-era discriminatory laws that placed the majority of the country's arable land in the hands of the white minority. According to the latest land audit conducted in 2017 by the country's Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, white settlers own at least 72 per cent of arable land despite making up less than 8 per cent of the population, per the 2022 census. The World Bank has also ranked South Africa as the world’s most unequal country. 

On 14 March, Washington sent South Africa's ambassador to the US packing following his remarks that Trump mobilised a 'supremacist instinct' with his ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) movement that enjoyed the spotlight during his last two runs for US president.

Credit: @sabcnews (YouTube)

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPRZb-h88sI

https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20250207-south-africa-will-not-be-bullied-ramaphosa-says-after-trump-attack

https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-south-africa

https://www.euronews.com/2025/03/25/south-african-president-cyril-ramaphosa-rejects-claims-of-afrikaner-persecution

https://www.gov.za/documents/other/land-audit-report-2017-05-feb-2018

https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=16716

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099125003072240961/pdf/P1649270b73f1f0b5093fb0e644d33bc6f1.pdf