For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lumkile Nkomfe.

Making headlines: Ramaphosa responds to Trump’s land-confiscation claims; BLSA says SoNA can reinforce cooperation and reforms to achieve 3% growth; And, Taiwan says S Africa gives March deadline to move office from Pretoria

Ramaphosa responds to Trump’s land-confiscation claims

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a swift response to US President Donald Trump’s threat that aid from that country could be withdrawn, owing to his view that South Africa’s recently enacted Expropriation Act is leading to the confiscation of land.

Following Trump’s comments, which were made initially on his Truth Social account and later reinforced in a brief television interview, the Presidency said the government had not confiscated any land.

It also underlined South Africa’s status as a “constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality”.

Ramaphosa stressed that the country’s recently adopted Expropriation Act was not a confiscation instrument, but a constitutionally mandated legal process that ensured public access to land “in an equitable and just manner as guided by the Constitution”.

BLSA says SoNA can reinforce cooperation and reforms to achieve 3% growth

President Cyril Ramaphosa can use his State of the Nation Address, set to be delivered on February 6, to reinforce the fundamental commitment by different parties to find workable solutions to their differences, putting the country first and ensuring stability, said business organisation Business Leadership South Africa  CEO Busi Mavuso.

The SoNA is an opportunity to consolidate the work needed to deliver 3% economic growth by the end of this year, which is the kind of growth that will start making a meaningful impact on unemployment, spur investment and generate the tax revenue required to support government’s social programmes, she emphasises in her latest weekly newsletter.

The Government of National Unity has been making good progress on reforms on several fronts, she added.

However, the SoNA should address long-promised reforms to streamline the regulations that govern public-private partnerships. National Treasury can make clear progress in this and other regulatory reform to improve the business environment - from exchange control to tax certainty, Mavuso said.

The South African government has given Taiwan a deadline of the end of March to relocate the island's de facto embassy outside of the capital city Pretoria, the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said, blaming Chinese pressure for the move.

South Africa severed official diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1997 and only maintains formal - and very close - relations with China, which views the democratically governed island as Chinese territory with no right to the trappings of a state.

And, Taiwan says S Africa gives March deadline to move office from Pretoria

In a statement late, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said South Africa's government had sent a letter in late January demanding the de facto Taiwanese embassy leave Pretoria before the end of March and "even be renamed as a trade office".

It said the demand shows China's suppression against Taiwan in South Africa is becoming more serious, saying, however, that negotiations between Taiwan and South Africa were ongoing.

China's foreign ministry said South Africa was a "good friend and partner" of China, and the country was doing exactly what it should when it comes to upholding the "one China principle" - which states Taiwan is part of China.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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