US imposes visa restrictions on South Africans amid row over race and land policies

The United States has announced new visa restrictions aimed at South Africans accused of promoting racial discrimination, inciting violence or enabling land confiscation, deepening a diplomatic rift tied to disagreements over South Africa’s post-apartheid race and land policies.

What the US announced

On Tuesday, Washington said the visa restrictions would target people who promote “race-based discrimination, incite violence, or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa,” but the announcement did not immediately name any individuals targeted by the measures.

Context of rising tensions

Ties between the two countries have nosedived since President Donald Trump took office last year, the statement noted. The report says Trump has repeatedly criticised South African leaders over policies intended to redress inequalities stemming from apartheid.

Among actions by the US president cited in the report: he publicly criticised South Africa’s land and employment laws, berated President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office in 2025 over discredited claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa, imposed high tariffs, and boycotted a G20 summit in Johannesburg.

Other US moves and responses

The article states that the US has also cut aid, expelled the South African ambassador and offered “refuge” to white South Africans. It says Mr Trump launched a special programme under which thousands of Afrikaners have been allowed to settle in the United States.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was quoted saying:

“As President Trump 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.”

South Africa’s moves on trade

The report notes South Africa said last month it would offer a “generous” new trade deal to the United States as it sought to avoid hefty tariffs that threaten job losses amid a severe unemployment crisis.

Where things stand

The visa announcement is the latest development in a deteriorating relationship described in the report. Details on who specifically will be barred from US visas were not provided in the announcement.