US imposes visa restrictions on South Africans over land reform policies

The United States has announced new visa restrictions targeting certain South African nationals over the country’s land reform policies and other measures that Washington says discriminate against minority groups.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the policy on Tuesday, saying it would apply to individuals responsible for or involved in implementing laws that permit uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of imminent violence against minority ethnic or racial groups.

Rubio said the South African government had failed to adequately address concerns previously raised by the United States.

“The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns,” he said in a statement.

However, Rubio did not identify any individuals who would be affected by the visa restrictions.

The latest move marks another development in the strained relationship between Washington and Pretoria under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The US has repeatedly criticised South Africa’s land reform programme, which seeks to address inequalities linked to the country’s apartheid history. Trump has argued that the policies unfairly affect white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners.

Washington has also opposed South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, in which Pretoria accuses Israel of violating the Genocide Convention over its military operations in Gaza.

South Africa has rejected allegations that white citizens are being persecuted, with the government maintaining that there is no evidence of systematic discrimination against white South Africans. It has also argued that claims of white persecution undermine national unity, sovereignty and the country’s diplomatic relations.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for international efforts to counter what he described as false claims about the persecution of white South Africans.

Since returning to office, Trump has taken several measures against South Africa, including cutting some US aid, offering refugee status to some white Afrikaners and expelling South Africa’s ambassador. His administration has also repeatedly raised allegations of “white genocide”, claims that the South African government has denied.

More than three decades after the end of apartheid, South Africa remains one of the world’s most unequal societies.

Although the country has one of the highest murder rates globally, official crime data show that Black South Africans account for the majority of victims of violent crime.