U.S. imposes visa restrictions related to South African racial policies

The policy is based on Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. This provision allows the Secretary of State to declare a person inadmissible if their entry into the United States could have serious consequences for U.S. foreign policy. The State Department specifies that certain family members of the targeted individuals may also be affected.

Marco Rubio stated that the South African government has not adequately addressed the concerns previously raised by Washington. The U.S. statement specifically cites land policies, certain measures of racial redress, rural violence, and rhetoric that the Trump administration considers hostile to Afrikaners and other minorities.

Pretoria has contested this interpretation of the situation for several months. The South African government asserts that there is no policy of persecution against whites or Afrikaners. In May 2025, the department responsible for land reform indicated that no expropriation of private property had occurred since the new land legislation came into effect and that acquisitions made for restitution or redistribution were based on legal procedures.

The South African Expropriation Act, enacted in January 2025, stipulates that property cannot be seized arbitrarily and that any expropriation must serve a public purpose or the public interest. This legislation has become a focal point of the dispute with the Trump administration, which accuses Pretoria of allowing confiscations without compensation.

Bilateral relations had already significantly deteriorated due to reduced U.S. aid, Washington’s criticisms of South Africa’s racial transformation policies, and the U.S. program for the resettlement of Afrikaners. Pretoria has repeatedly rejected allegations of racial persecution and defended the legality of its policies aimed at addressing inequalities inherited from apartheid.

As of September 15, Marco Rubio’s statement did not name any individuals, and the South African embassy in Washington had not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment.