The United States has announced visa restrictions against people it accuses of promoting discrimination against South Africa’s white minority, further escalating tensions between Washington and Pretoria.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the restrictions would target individuals involved in what Washington describes as race based discrimination, incitement of violence or efforts to enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa.
Rubio did not identify anyone who would be affected by the restrictions. He said the South African government had failed to adequately address concerns previously raised by the United States.
South Africa has repeatedly rejected US allegations that Afrikaners, descendants mainly of European settlers, are being persecuted. Pretoria has also dismissed claims of a genocide against white South Africans as unsupported by reliable evidence.
Land ownership remains a sensitive issue in South Africa more than three decades after the end of apartheid, when the black majority was systematically dispossessed of land. The government says land reform is necessary to address those historical inequalities.
A law signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa allows the state to expropriate property in the public interest and, in limited circumstances, set compensation at zero. The government says the law does not permit arbitrary seizures and that property owners can challenge disputes in court.
US President Donald Trump has previously offered refugee status to Afrikaners and accused South Africa of persecuting its white minority. South Africa has rejected those allegations.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since Trump returned to office, with Washington cutting aid, expelling South Africa’s ambassador and imposing a 30% tariff on South African goods exported to the United States.
The US embassy in Pretoria said Washington believed dialogue had failed to resolve its concerns and warned that the visa restrictions could be followed by further measures.
The restrictions are being imposed under a US immigration law that allows the secretary of state to bar foreign nationals whose entry is considered harmful to US foreign policy interests.
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