US top diplomat Rubio skipping G20 talks as South Africa doing 'very bad things'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday he would skip Group of 20 talks this month in South Africa, which he accused of an "anti-American" agenda.

"South Africa is doing very bad things," he wrote on X as he landed in the Dominican Republic. “Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote "solidarity, equality, & sustainability. In other words: DEI and climate change."

His comment comes days after President Donald Trump threatened to cut off funding to the African country.

South Africa will host a meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 group of countries from February 20-21 in Johannesburg.

Trump said on Sunday, without citing evidence, that "South Africa is confiscating land" and "certain classes of people" were being treated "very badly". He said he would cut funding until the matter was investigated.

President Cyril Ramaphosa defended South Africa's land policy after Trump's threat, saying the government had not confiscated any land and the policy was aimed at ensuring equitable public access to land.

Trump has complained about South Africa's land policy. South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is close to Trump, also accused South Africa, without evidence, of having "openly racist ownership laws", suggesting white people were the victims.

The question of land ownership is highly 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.

White landowners still possess three quarters of South Africa's freehold farmland. This contrasts with 4 percent owned by Black people, who make up 80 percent of the population compared with about 8 percent for whites, according to the latest 2017 land audit.

Partly in an effort to redress this imbalance, Ramaphosa signed a law last month allowing the state to expropriate land "in the public interest".

The Trump administration has attempted to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the U.S. government. Rights groups say DEI programs help deal with inequities faced by marginalized groups. Trump calls DEI anti-merit.

(AFP and Reuters)