US visa restrictions have been announced against people the Trump administration accuses of promoting race-based discrimination, violence or land confiscation without compensation in South Africa, adding to growing tensions between Washington and Pretoria. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures on Tuesday, saying South Africa had not adequately addressed concerns previously raised by the United States.
US Visa Restrictions Target South Africa
Rubio said the US visa restrictions would target people who promote “race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa.” He did not immediately identify any individuals who had been affected by the new measures.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised South Africa over policies intended to address racial inequality. Washington has argued that some of those policies discriminate against Afrikaners, who are mainly descendants of Dutch and French settlers. South Africa has consistently rejected that accusation.
In a separate social media post, Rubio accused the South African government of pursuing “racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority”. He said people responsible for what he described as injustices “have no place in the United States” and argued that the actions targeted by the policy could undermine peace, economic stability and the rule of law.
South Africa Land Reform Fuels Dispute
The latest US visa restrictions are closely linked to the long-running dispute over South Africa’s land reform policies. The issue remains highly sensitive more than three decades after apartheid, during which the black majority was dispossessed of land and denied many basic rights.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed legislation allowing the state to expropriate property in the public interest, including circumstances where compensation can be set at zero. However, the law also requires authorities, in most cases, to first attempt to reach an agreement with property owners, while disputes can be taken to court.
South Africa’s government says land reform is necessary to address historic inequalities and insists that the legislation does not permit arbitrary seizures. Most private farmland is owned by white South Africans, who account for just over 7% of the country’s population.
US-South Africa Relations Face Further Pressure
The US embassy in Pretoria said Washington believed dialogue with South Africa had run its course. It accused the South African government of failing to demonstrate a commitment to strong bilateral relations and warned that the visa restrictions were only the first stage of additional measures.
“This visa restriction policy is only the first step in a series of escalatory measures that will show America’s firm resolve in this matter,” the embassy said.
The dispute has already led to several major actions by the Trump administration. Since Donald Trump returned to office early last year, the US has cut aid to South Africa, expelled the South African ambassador and offered “refuge” to white South Africans who say they are fleeing persecution.
South Africa has repeatedly denied allegations that white people are being persecuted or that a genocide is taking place. The government has said claims of a white genocide have been widely discredited and lack reliable evidence. The country’s latest crime statistics also do not indicate that more white people have been victims of violent crime than other racial groups.
Trump offered refugee status to Afrikaners after Ramaphosa signed the land legislation. Ramaphosa later travelled to the White House in May with a large delegation that included white members of his coalition government and prominent white South African golfers in an effort to improve relations.
That meeting became contentious after Trump raised claims that white South African farmers were being killed and persecuted, presenting evidence that has since been widely discredited. Further efforts to improve US-South Africa relations were followed by the imposition of 30% tariffs on South African goods exported to the United States in August, described as the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa.
The South African government had not yet responded to the latest US visa restrictions. The measures are being imposed under a provision of US immigration law that allows the secretary of state to bar foreign nationals whose entry is considered potentially damaging to US foreign policy interests.
