US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he will not attend a G20 meeting in South Africa this month, after President Donald Trump threatened to cut funding to the country in a row over land policy.
Mr Trump accused South Africa of confiscating land and said "certain classes of people" were being mistreated. He did not cite evidence but said he would slash funding until the matter was investigated.
After the threat, President Cyril Ramaphosa defended South Africa's policy, saying the government had not confiscated any land and the measure was aimed at ensuring equitable public access.
South Africa will host a meeting of foreign ministers from the G20 group of nations on February 20 and 21 in Johannesburg.
Mr Rubio said in a post on X that he would not attend, claiming "South Africa is doing very bad things".
"Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote solidarity, equality and sustainability. In other words: DEI and climate change," he wrote. "My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism."
The Trump administration has attempted to dismantle so-called DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programmes across the US government. Rights groups say DEI schemes help deal with inequities faced by marginalised groups but Mr Trump calls them discriminatory and "anti-merit".
Elon Musk, the South African-born billionaire who is close to Mr Trump, has also accused South Africa, without evidence, of having "openly racist ownership laws", suggesting white people were the victims.
The question of land ownership is politically charged in South Africa due to the legacy of the colonial and apartheid eras, when black people were dispossessed of their lands and denied property rights.
According to the latest land audit from 2017, white landowners still possess three quarters of South Africa's freehold farmland, despite comprising less than 8 per cent of the population. This contrasts with 4 per cent owned by black people, who make up 80 per cent of the population.
Partly in an effort to redress this imbalance, Mr Ramaphosa signed a law last month allowing the state to expropriate land "in the public interest". But authorities have not yet taken control of any land under the legislation.
South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has opposed the law, saying it undermines property rights and could deter foreign investors. However, it has also expressed concern about Mr Trump’s threat to cut aid.
Mr Ramaphosa said the government looked forward to engaging with Mr Trump to foster a better understanding of the land policy. His African National Congress, the biggest party in the country's coalition government, accused Mr Trump of amplifying misinformation propagated by AfriForum, a right-wing lobby group that promotes what it sees as the interests of white Afrikaner South Africans.
Critics of the Trump administration responded negatively to Mr Rubio's statement that he would skip the G20.
“This show of weakness hurts our national security and economy while benefiting China,” Andrew Bates, a former White House senior deputy press secretary under previous president Joe Biden, wrote on X.
The US is South Africa’s second-largest trading partner, according to data from the World Bank, meaning the row could have significant economic impacts. Washington committed $440 million in aid to South Africa in 2023, of which $315 million was for HIV-Aids programmes.
Ties between Washington and Pretoria are already strained over South Africa's warm relations with China and Russia, and its legal action against Israel, a staunch US ally, which Pretoria accuses of genocide in Gaza.
South Africa holds the G20 presidency until November.
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
5pm: Sweihan – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Shamakh, Fernando Jara (jockey), Jean-Claude Picout (trainer)
5.30pm: Al Shamkha – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Daad, Dane O’Neill, Jaber Bittar
6pm: Shakbout City – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Ghayyar, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Gold Silver, Sandro Paiva, Ibrahim Aseel
7pm: Masdar City – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Khalifa City – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Ranchero, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
Results
5pm: Wadi Nagab – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Al Falaq, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Wadi Sidr – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Fakhama, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
6.30pm: Wadi Shees – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Mutaqadim, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 – Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Bahar Muscat, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Wadi Tayyibah – Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Poster Paint, Patrick Cosgrave, Bhupat Seemar
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
