The United States (US) government on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 imposed visa restrictions on some South African officials over their involvement in race based discrimination and uncompensated land seizure.
“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.
The move is the latest action by the Trump administration against the South African government over allegations that it is mistreating white citizens. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The restrictions further deepen tensions between Washington and Pretoria, whose relations have deteriorated since US president Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
The US has previously criticised South Africa over its land reform policies and its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Trump first accused South Africa of mistreating white South Africans in February 2025 and claimed that they were being violently targeted over land ownership. His administration subsequently cut funding to the country.
Rubio said the US remains “gravely concerned about racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination occurring against the Afrikaners.”
He also cited South Africa’s race-based legislation, threats of land expropriation without compensation and what he described as incitement of racial violence.
“The South African government has consistently failed to address rural crime, violent and dehumanising rhetoric adequately, and race-based discriminatory policies against Afrikaners and other minority populations,” Rubio said.
The US did not disclose the identities of the officials affected by the visa restrictions ahead of the next United Nations general assembly scheduled for September 22 in New York.
Washington warned that the restrictions were “only the first step in a series of escalatory measures” aimed at demonstrating what it described as its resolve on the matter.
The latest action comes after previous efforts by the South African government to improve relations with Washington.
Ramaphosa visited the White House in May, where he was accompanied by a delegation that included white members of his government.
Trump used the meeting to accuse Pretoria of genocide against white farmers, an allegation South Africa rejected.
In 2025, Trump also said he was disinviting South Africa from the 2026 G20 summit in Miami.
The US later imposed a 30 per cent tariff on goods from South Africa in August 2026.
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