US announces new visa restrictions targeting South African officials

09:44

By: Azzat Manal

US announces new visa restrictions targeting South African officials

The United States has introduced a new visa restriction policy targeting certain South African nationals accused by Washington of involvement in race-based discrimination, policies allowing land expropriation without compensation, or incitement of violence against racial and ethnic minorities.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measure as relations between Washington and Pretoria remain strained. The policy is directed at individuals whom the United States says are responsible for, or complicit in, the adoption or implementation of policies that fall within those categories. US authorities have not indicated that the measure constitutes a general visa ban on South African citizens.

Rubio said Washington remained concerned about what it described as discriminatory legislation and policies affecting Afrikaners, South Africans of predominantly Dutch and other European ancestry, as well as other minority communities. The US secretary of state also referred to concerns over rhetoric that Washington says could contribute to racial violence.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of a broader dispute between the United States and South Africa over land reform and the treatment of minorities. The Trump administration has previously raised concerns about South Africa's approach to land ownership and racial redress, while Pretoria has rejected accusations that its policies amount to racial persecution or systematic confiscation of property.

At the centre of the disagreement is South Africa's Expropriation Act of 2024, which was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in January 2025. The legislation establishes a legal framework for expropriating property for public purposes or in the public interest and includes circumstances in which compensation could be set at zero.

The South African government, however, maintains that the law does not provide for arbitrary confiscation of land. The legislation requires expropriation to take place within a legal framework and states that compensation should generally be determined according to a balance between the public interest and the interests of affected property owners. In certain cases, the law allows for nil compensation when specific conditions are met.

Pretoria has strongly disputed Washington's interpretation of the legislation. In a February 2025 cabinet statement, the South African government said the Expropriation Act was designed to address unequal access to land and remained subject to constitutional safeguards. It also rejected claims that the government was engaged in a policy of targeting particular racial groups.

The latest visa measure therefore adds another layer to an already complicated bilateral relationship. The two countries have historically maintained extensive economic and diplomatic ties, but disagreements over land reform, racial policy and the treatment of Afrikaners have increasingly become sources of tension.

Washington has also taken steps to facilitate the admission of some white South Africans as refugees, particularly Afrikaners, following claims from the Trump administration that they face discrimination and insecurity. South African officials have rejected the characterization of the country as facing a campaign of racial persecution and have stressed that social and economic problems affect citizens across racial groups.

The new restrictions are expected to be closely watched because they could affect individual South African officials without directly restricting travel by the wider population. They also underscore how disagreements over domestic policies can increasingly spill into immigration and diplomatic measures between governments.