The party of South Africa's ex-president Jacob Zuma on Monday filed a treason complaint against AfriForum, a group championing the white Afrikaner minority, after Donald Trump attacked the country's new law aimed at redistributing white-owned land.

U.S. President Donald Trump has followed through on his promise to punish South Africa by signing an executive order stopping all aid and assistance to the country over what he called a human rights violation against a white minority group.

When they were hit this week by a Donald Trump social media grenade, panicked South African officials turned to an unconventional diplomatic back channel.