The United States has imposed visa restrictions on some South African officials over what Washington described as their alleged involvement in “race-based discrimination,” uncompensated land seizures and the incitement of violence against minority groups.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the new policy saying the South African government had failed to adequately address concerns previously raised by Washington.
Rubio said the restrictions would target foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of imminent violence against minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa.
“The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns,” Rubio said.
He said the United States remained “gravely concerned” about what he described as racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination against Afrikaners and other minority populations.
Rubio also cited South Africa’s race-based legislation, threats of land expropriation without compensation, and what he described as incitement of racial violence through dehumanising chants and slogans as reasons for the new policy.
“The South African people are being failed by a government that is destroying its economy through an obsessive pursuit of racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority,” Rubio said.
He added that the South African government had consistently failed to adequately address rural crime, violent and dehumanising rhetoric, and what Washington considers race-based discriminatory policies against Afrikaners and other minority populations.
“Today, I’m announcing a new visa restriction policy targeting foreign nationals who enact or enable policies that promote race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa.”
“Those responsible for these injustices have no place in the United States,” he added.
The US has not, however, publicly identified the specific officials who will be affected by the restrictions. The announcement also did not immediately disclose how many individuals would be targeted or when the restrictions would take effect.
The latest action further escalates diplomatic tensions between Washington and Pretoria, which have deteriorated since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised South Africa over its policies aimed at addressing racial inequality and land ownership, while President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has rejected allegations that white South Africans are being systematically persecuted.
Trump previously accused South Africa of mistreating white South Africans and claimed that they were being subjected to violence over their land ownership. South African authorities have repeatedly denied the allegations, while independent observers have disputed claims of a campaign of white genocide.
Land ownership remains a major legacy of South Africa’s apartheid system, which continues to shape patterns of inequality and control of resources more than three decades after the end of white minority rule.
White South Africans make up less than 10 per cent of the country’s population but own a large share of agricultural land, while apartheid-era legislation, including the 1913 Native Lands Act, restricted the ability of Black South Africans to acquire land outside designated reserves.
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, successive South African governments have pursued measures aimed at addressing those historical disparities. Efforts to accelerate land redistribution through expropriation have, however, attracted opposition from some groups and individuals, including US billionaire Elon Musk, an ally of Trump.
The Trump administration has also prioritised the admission of white South Africans as refugees to the United States.
The visa restrictions are the latest in a series of measures taken by Washington against Pretoria.
The US previously cut aid to South Africa, expelled its ambassador and imposed other diplomatic measures. Trump also criticised South Africa’s land policies and its legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
