South Africa's Democratic Alliance (DA) party has announced that it has filed a court challenge seeking to overturn a land expropriation act it deems "unconstitutional."

The second-largest partner in South Africa's unity government announced on Monday that it has taken legal action to overturn a land expropriation act, calling it "unconstitutional." The legislation has ignited a diplomatic dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill allowing the government, under specific circumstances, to offer "nil compensation" for land expropriated in the public interest. Trump, whose ally Elon Musk was born in apartheid-era South Africa, has alleged that the law enables the seizure of land from white farmers. In response, he has ordered a freeze on U.S. aid to South Africa.

Land ownership remains a deeply divisive issue in South Africa. Despite the end of apartheid three decades ago, most farmland is still owned by white individuals. The historical roots of this issue trace back to colonial-era land seizures and policies that continued under apartheid.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s only white-led political party, has filed a case in the High Court, arguing that the Expropriation Act is unconstitutional both in substance and procedure. The party claims that the law contains vague and contradictory provisions, further complicating its implementation.

Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) suffered a setback in last May’s elections, failing to secure enough votes to govern independently for the first time since it came to power in 1994, ending decades of white-minority rule. Consequently, the ANC formed a coalition government with the DA, which now controls six ministries, along with eight other parties.

The new law replaces a 1975 apartheid-era expropriation law to align with South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution. It grants the government the authority to expropriate land without compensation under exceptional circumstances, provided the decision is deemed "just and equitable."

However, the law has sparked fears reminiscent of Zimbabwe’s land seizures in the 2000s, when thousands of white farmers were dispossessed of their land.

In response to Trump’s comments, the South African government condemned what it described as a "campaign of misinformation." Trump had claimed that the legislation would enable the government to seize agricultural land from Afrikaners, an ethnic minority, without compensation.

According to 2022 data, white South Africans make up approximately 7% of the country’s population.