South Africa’s Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in the governing coalition, went to court on Monday to challenge a land seizure law that United States President Donald Trump cited when cutting off aid to the country last year.
The case has caused friction with the biggest party, the African National Congress (ANC), as the country gears up for local government elections in November.
The Expropriation Act allows the state to seize land in the public interest, in some cases without compensating the owner, as part of efforts to redress the legacy of apartheid.
It has been the subject of lengthy and often acrimonious debate for years, and was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in January 2025. No land has been seized to date.
Addressing racial inequality
The mostly white-led DA says the legislation gives the government “vague and sweeping powers” and it will deter investment.
Ramaphosa’s ANC, a former liberation movement, says the legislation is a milestone in its efforts to transform the country’s racially unequal economy, in which the white minority still owns most of the private farmland.
South Africa’s government has rejected Trump’s criticisms of its land reform policies and says the Expropriation Act is comparable to similar laws in many other countries.
The DA’s case will be heard along with two other legal challenges launched by groups promoting the interests of Afrikaners, descendants of mostly Dutch settlers who Trump has offered refuge, alleging they face discrimination though South Africa vehemently rejects that claim.
The ANC and DA teamed up in the coalition in 2024 after an election in which the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of white minority rule in 1994. Their partnership has been fractious but has remained intact.
