Saying that it "echoes the darkest chapters of US foreign policy, recalling its support for apartheid and its labeling of the African National Congress as a terrorist organisation," over 100 parliamentarians from around the world have signed an open letter condemning Donald Trump's February 7 executive order targeting South Africa and calling for its immediate repeal.
The order was in response to South Africa's proposed land reforms that seek to reverse a legacy of racist injustice. This "land reform is a necessary response to historic inequality: White South Africans 8% of the population, control 72% of freehold farmland."
The order "halts critical financial aid under the false pretense of protecting Afrikaners from "government-sponsored race-based discrimination." In reality, Trump's order marks a retaliation against South Africa for daring to pursue its self-determination at home and express its solidarities abroad."
According to the letter the "humanitarian consequences of Trump's retaliation are dire: 6 million South Africans on HIV/AIDS treatment risk losing PEPFAR funding, while 350,000 jobs and $7 billion in exports are now under threat."
The letter ends:
We write today not only in defence of South Africa, but also in defence of the UN Charter that guarantees the sovereign equality of all nations without fear of foreign intervention.
We call on our own governments to take appropriate action, pursuing new mechanisms to support South Africa's public health programs and to expand new avenues for international trade to bolster its economy against efforts to exclude it.
The struggle for South African democracy did not end with apartheid. This moment demands the renewal of international solidarity with the South African people as they face this assault on their right to self-determination.
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