The Trump administration plans to impose visa restrictions on South African officials and others it accuses of discriminating against white Afrikaners and other minority groups, widening a dispute with Pretoria over land policy and Gaza.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday that Washington would introduce a policy aimed at South Africans involved in what he called “race-based” discrimination against white Afrikaners.
The United States said it would restrict visas for people “responsible for, or complicit in the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, and/or the incitement of imminent violence against members of minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa”.
Rubio did not name any officials who would face the restrictions. The administration also did not set out which South African laws or policies it considers discriminatory, the evidence it used to identify those responsible, or the number of people who could be affected.
South Africa rejected the US allegations. Ronald Lamola, the minister for international relations and cooperation, responded to the announcement on Wednesday. Pretoria said the planned sanctions stemmed from “mischaracterisations” promoted by “fringe groups”.
At the centre of the dispute is a land expropriation law passed by South Africa in 2025. The law permits the expropriation of land, including without compensation in some limited cases. It is a central element of the ruling African National Congress's land reform agenda, which is intended to address inequalities rooted in apartheid.
Land ownership remains a central issue in South Africa’s debate over economic redress after apartheid. A 2017 government report found that whites, who make up about 7 percent of the population, owned disproportionately large amounts of land, including 72 percent of the individually owned farmland.
The apartheid system persisted until 1994, when the country's first democratic elections brought Black Africans into power. Afrikaners are a minority in South Africa descended from mostly Dutch colonial settlers. Trump has been lobbied by Afrikaner groups opposed to the 2025 land law.
The visa policy adds to pressure from Washington on Pretoria. South Africa has also been targeted by Trump over its filing of a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The latest action places the administration’s objections to South African land reform alongside a separate disagreement over Pretoria’s international position. It remains unclear which officials could be affected, how many people may face visa action, whether measures beyond visa restrictions are planned, or how South Africa will respond beyond its initial rejection.
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