The Trump administration is to impose travel restrictions on South African officials it accuses of enabling discrimination against white people and other minority groups.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said visa applications would be rejected, or existing visas revoked, for foreign nationals found to be responsible for or complicit in policies involving uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of violence against minority ethnic and racial groups in South Africa.
“The United States will not allow such behavior to go unchecked,” Mr Rubio said. “These actions directly undermine peace, economic stability, and the rule of law, and they are incompatible with the pillars of America’s foreign policy.”
He did not name any officials who would be affected by the measures. A lobby group representing white minorities in South Africa has previously urged the US to sanction officials from the African National Congress, the party of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
South Africa’s foreign ministry said it had “noted with concern” the visa restrictions, describing them as consistent with the “mischaracterization of South Africa’s domestic policies by fringe groups”. The government has repeatedly rejected allegations that white South Africans are being discriminated against, calling them baseless and rooted in misinformation.
US claims over South African policies
The US administration has pointed to a South African law allowing the expropriation of unused private land without compensation in some circumstances. It has also criticised affirmative action policies intended to improve opportunities for black people and others.
Washington has cited a small number of violent crimes against white farmers as evidence of what it describes as a wider anti-white stance. The administration says the new visa policy is the first of a series of escalatory measures because South Africa has not changed its policies.
The latest action follows other US measures against South Africa during President Donald Trump’s second term. These have included barring South African officials from meetings of the Group of 20 economic bloc in the US and phasing out aid for the country’s HIV treatment programme.
The Trump administration has also criticised South Africa’s decision to accuse US ally Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza at the United Nations’ top court. Israel has strongly denied the allegation.
Washington has separately opened a refugee programme for Afrikaners and other white people, claiming they face a humanitarian emergency in South Africa. Afrikaners are descended mainly from Dutch and French colonial settlers and were central to the country’s former apartheid system.
The US State Department has cited what it calls “escalating hostility”, including critical statements by politicians and a raid by South African authorities on a US refugee processing centre. South African officials said at the time that Kenyans working illegally at the centre had been arrested.
There are about 4.5 million white people in South Africa, whose population is estimated at 62 million. The official US ambassador to South Africa account said on Wednesday that the visa restrictions were “only the first step” in demonstrating America’s resolve.
