In a wide-ranging interview about racial divides aggravated by the recent “breakdown in the relationship between the United States and South Africa,” the director of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) Justice and Peace Commission (JP) calls for “racial reconciliation.”

Fr Stan Muyebe a member of the Dominican Order of Preachers (OP) says the fallout between President Donald Trump’s administration and South Africa has reopened the “painful history” of the “confiscation of land from communities without compensation” during the dark years of apartheid.

As South Africa tries “to recover from its painful past of apartheid,” said Fr Muyebe OP, the “painful history for a lot of people, was the dispossession of land without compensation…It’s a very complex and very sensitive issue that calls for genuine reconciliation.  Racial reconciliation in South Africa cannot be comprehensive if the land matter is not handled properly.”

In the Monday, February 17 interview, Fr Muyebe OP described the “manufacturing of facts (and) misrepresentation” of South Africa’s land reform post-apartheid as a “very unfortunate” sensitive matter that has been “hijacked by the recent developments in the global geopolitics.”

“Hearing what has been presented by the United States, but also in the media, there are some aspects that are facts, but there’s also manufacturing of facts, misrepresentation,” he added.

Land Reform in South Africa

The director of the JP Commission went on to say, “The South African Constitution, particularly Section 25, ensures that while land restitution occurs, it does not undermine food security or economic productivity,” and that “although the government has introduced new legislation to accelerate land redistribution, controversy remains regarding the extent and manner of compensation.”

“We are confident that this matter will be addressed when the legislation is taken for review at the constitutional court, which will most likely happen,” he added.

According to Fr Muyebe OP, “The upcoming national dialogue on land reform presents an opportunity for South Africans to collectively seek solutions and reconciliation on the land issue and other outstanding issues.”

Farm Violence in South Africa

The SACBC JP Commission has since 2008 assisted black communities regain confiscated land. Together with the Association of white Farmers and the University of Nelson Mandela, the JP Commission assists black communities in sustaining the land used for commercial farming.

Asked about President Trump’s allegations about the supposed “genocide” of white farmers in South Africa, Fr Muyebe OP said that farm violence in the country remains a pressing issue “affecting both white and black farmers.”

He said, “The high levels of violence underscore the urgent need for better security measures and improved relations between farm owners and surrounding communities,” and that “dialogue and cooperation are essential in addressing this crisis, as fostering trust and economic inclusion can help reduce tensions in rural areas.”

Suspension of U.S. Foreign Aid

President Trump’s January 2025 executive order to temporarily suspend all U.S. foreign assistance programs such as PEPFAR – the United States government’s foreign aid programme, “has reversed some of the gains that have been made in the HIV/AIDS intervention,” said Fr Muyebe OP.

In the February 17 interview, Fr Muyebe OP underscored the role of the SACBC AIDS office established in the late 1990s to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has had a significant impact in Southern Africa.

He said, “The church in South Africa has been at the centre of the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic… Even when the government later initiated programs for HIV intervention treatment, the church still has been at the centre of this pandemic. And most of the funding was through PEPFAR, US aid.”

According to Fr Muyebe OP, the suspension of the U.S. foreign assistance is a wake-up call to African leaders to address “dependency” and “find a way in which critical programs that we have in Africa should be funded internally.”

“The other aspect that we need to look at, is this problem of the debt crisis that a lot of African countries face,” said Fr Muyebe OP.

Looking ahead to the G20 Summit 2025 scheduled to place in South Africa, Fr Muyebe OP said the Church “wants to become a voice together with the South African government and add her voice around the problem of the debt burden, because if we resolve this problem of the debt, it can also help African countries move away from dependency.”