South Africa's Julius Malema confirms white farmer land grab, tells Trump to stay out of it

Radical South African politician Julius Malema has called out President Donald Trump and defiantly confirmed the country’s “expropriation without compensation” plan to take land from white farmers.

What is the plan?

“Through land expropriation, we are forcing white people to share the land which was gained through a crime against the humanity of black and African people,” Malema said at a news conference on Thursday. He was referring to racist colonialism and apartheid practices.

“South Africa is a post-colonial country ceased with deep racial inequalities that were long designed by apartheid and colonization," said Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party. "Our land expropriation program seeks to realize the ideal of equality and human dignity."

Trump tweeted Wednesday that he directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers.”

That prompted an angry response from Malema.

“We must put it on record that Donald ‘the pathological liar’ Trump, we are not scared of you and your USA or Western imperialist forces,” Malema said.

“We are not the generation that is going to kneel at the statue of Western imperialism and accept to live in the indignity of black landlessness,” he continued.

Domestic Trump critics claimed the president was promoting racism and spreading fake news.

In contrast, South Africans, who are against the proposed land reform policy, supported Trump for speaking out.

Still, the latest development does not rise to the level of a “white genocide,” that was feared by some conservative Americans, Brietbart News reported.

What could happen?

But black and white South Africans alike are worrying that the plan could lead to an economic collapse, just as it did in Zimbabwe.

The South African government is run by the African National Congress and has been attempting to “calm the fears of land-owners and investors, while at the same time appeasing populists in its own ranks and in the EFF with promises of redistribution,” according to the report.