Marco Rubio accused the South African government of \u201cfailing\u201d to address Washington\u2019s previously stated concerns<\/p>\n
The US has introduced a visa-restriction policy targeting South African officials and other individuals Washington accuses of enabling \u201cuncompensated land seizures\u201d and \u201crace-based discrimination\u201d against Afrikaners.
\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measure on Tuesday, saying it would cover foreign nationals responsible for or complicit in policies permitting discrimination or inciting violence against racial and ethnic minorities.
\nRubio accused the South African government of failing to\u00a0\u201cadequately address\u201d Washington\u2019s previously stated concerns. \u201cThe 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,\u201d he said in a statement. The policy creates a framework for denying or revoking visas but it did not name any individuals targeted by the restrictions.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Are white farmers really persecuted? What\u2019s behind the US-South Africa spat<\/p>\n
Pretoria has yet to respond publicly. It has repeatedly denied persecuting white citizens or confiscating white-owned farms, while Ramaphosa has dismissed claims of a \u201cwhite genocide\u201d as false.
\nThe dispute centers partly on the Expropriation Act signed in January 2025. It requires compensation for property acquired in the public interest but permits none in limited cases, including abandoned land. Pretoria says the law does not authorize arbitrary seizures and allows disputes to be settled in court.
\nThe government describes land reform and black economic empowerment as necessary to address inequalities inherited from apartheid.
\nRelations between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated sharply since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. The two governments have clashed over land reform, racial policies, Pretoria\u2019s ties with Russia, China and Iran, and its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
\nIn early 2025, Trump froze US assistance and launched a fast-tracked refugee program for white Afrikaners, citing alleged racial persecution. Washington later expelled South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool over remarks accusing the Trump administration of mobilizing a supremacist movement. The US also boycotted the G20 summit hosted by South Africa and imposed tariffs on several major exports.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Why this country became a test case for global power shifts<\/p>\n
Pretoria has sought to reset ties. Ramaphosa met Trump in Washington in May 2025, rejecting claims that white farmers were being systematically killed and stressing that violent crime affects all races.
\nMore than a year after Rasool\u2019s expulsion, Pretoria appointed veteran apartheid-era negotiator Roelf Meyer as ambassador to Washington. It has also engaged US officials on trade and critical minerals and sought to retain access to the African Growth and Opportunity Act.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
\u2018Hate speech\u2019 and \u2018genocide\u2019 claims: Why has South Africa summoned the US envoy?<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa has said he will respond to Trump\u2019s demands, delivered by US envoy Leo Brent Bozell III. The South African leader has said Pretoria wants constructive ties but \u201cwill not be bullied.\u201d His government has also rejected pressure to abandon its non-aligned foreign policy.
\nIn June, after Bozell challenged Pretoria\u2019s ties with China and Iran, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said South Africa refused to be \u201cdrawn into geopolitical contestations\u201d or pressured to take sides.<\/p>\n
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. The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural\u2026\u2014 Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 15, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Marco Rubio accused the South African government of \u201cfailing\u201d to address Washington\u2019s previously stated concerns The US has introduced a visa-restriction policy targeting South African officials and other individuals Washington…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t