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US targets South African officials with new visa restrictions over race-based discrimination
Confirmed
In Short: The US has announced new visa restrictions targeting South African officials accused of promoting race-based discrimination and land expropriation without compensation.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions on Tuesday, targeting officials in South Africa who promote 'race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa.' The restrictions, according to the U.S. State Department, could apply to foreign nationals involved in policies or actions that enable land expropriation without compensation, race-based discrimination, or incitement of imminent violence against racial or ethnic minorities. While no individuals were named, the restrictions could affect family members and officials holding U.S. visas.
The South African government has repeatedly rejected allegations of persecuting white people or confiscating their land, but the U.S. maintains that the South African government has not adequately addressed concerns about 'government-sponsored discrimination' against Afrikaners and other minorities. The visa restrictions are part of a broader U.S. criticism of the South African government, which has also seen the revocation of over 150,000 U.S. visas, mostly for criminal activity.
According to reports, the restrictions are part of a framework for future visa actions rather than confirming that a particular South African official has already been sanctioned. The measures do not apply to ordinary citizens, who remain eligible to apply for U.S. visas unless they fall within the conduct described by Washington or are affected by existing immigration rules.
What's confirmed
- "The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement announcing the restrictions on Tuesday.
- Trump offered refugee status to Afrikaners last year after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government to seize land without compensation in rare instances.
- He said the visa restrictions would target those who promote "race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa." Rubio did not immediately name any individuals targeted by the restrictions.
- "As @POTUS has made clear, 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 wrote.
- The restrictions will target foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, enacting or implementing laws or policies that the State Department says enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of imminent violence against minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa.
- "The United States remains gravely concerned about racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination occurring against the Afrikaners and other minority populations in South Africa, including race-based discriminatory legislation, threats of land expropriation without compensation, and incitement of racial violence through dehumanizing chants and slogans," Rubio said in a statement, Xinhua reported.
What's still developing
- The US embassy in Pretoria said Washington believed dialogue with South Africa had run its course and accused the African country of failing to demonstrate a commitment to strong bilateral relations.
- Unpacking the South African land law that so inflames Trump On the South African road incorrectly identified as a 'burial site' by Trump Race policies or Israel - what's really driving Trump's fury with South Africa?
- Is there a genocide of white South Africans as Trump claims?
- "It is a boom by African standards," he said.
- U.S. companies using undersea AI cables to connect with African data centers is a possibility, Goldstuck said, but there are limitations.
- "Distance creates a slight delay, so African facilities would be less attractive for U.S. services requiring an instant response from American users" Goldstuck said.
- And this year, the embassy in this central African country has assisted in securing a $100 million contract to supply two data centers and a gas-to-power plant in the face of strong competition from China.
- However, Washington did not name anyone affected by the measure, identify the South African laws that would automatically trigger restrictions or disclose whether officials already holding US visas could lose them.