(Adnkronos) – “We are a sovereign and democratic country, committed to dignity, equality and human rights, which fights racism and sexism by taking the Constitution and the rule of law as its reference”. This was stated in a statement by the South African Foreign Minister, Ronald Lamola, in response to accusations by US President Donald Trump and criticism from Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who announced that he will not attend the meeting of G20 Foreign Ministers, scheduled for February 20 and 21 in Johannesburg. The statement denies “arbitrary” expropriations of land or other property.
Announcing that he will not go to Johannesburg, Rubio alludes to expropriations among the “very bad things” that in his opinion South Africa is doing and accuses the country of using the G20 to promote policies on climate change or inclusion that would be contrary to the lines of the Trump Administration.
After Trump’s accusation of “expropriating the land” and the threat to cut funding to the African country and the intervention of President Cyril Ramaphosa in defense of ‘his’ law to set new guidelines for the expropriation of land, Lamola rejects the accusations of Rubio also stating that the South African presidency “is not limited only to climate change”, but wants to start a debate for “fair” treatment for the countries of the Global South. “These are important principles on which we are willing to continue talking to the United States”, he adds in the statement.
