WASHINGTON- The United States has imposed visa restrictions on certain South African nationals over what Washington described as involvement in policies enabling uncompensated land seizures, racial discrimination and incitement of violence against minority groups.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the restrictions on Tuesday.

Rubio said they targeted foreign nationals responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of such policies.

“As @POTUS 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,” Rubio said in a post on social media.

The measures are linked to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February 2025.

It accused South Africa of pursuing policies that discriminate against racial minorities and alleged that Afrikaners faced persecution.

The latest restrictions do not amount to a blanket suspension of visas for South African citizens.

The U.S. State Department has not publicly identified individuals affected by the new measures.

South Africa rejected the U.S. characterization of its policies, saying Washington had misrepresented the country’s efforts to address inequalities inherited from apartheid.

Pretoria has defended land reform and affirmative-action policies as efforts to redress historical racial injustice.

It has rejected allegations that white South Africans face systematic persecution.

South Africa’s foreign ministry said the country had a sovereign right to legislate on domestic matters and called for continued diplomatic engagement with Washington.

Further Deterioration of Relations

The visa restrictions mark another deterioration in relations between the two countries.

The Trump administration has already cut aid to South Africa, excluded the country from the upcoming G20 summit in Miami and backed a refugee programme for white South Africans.

Washington and Pretoria have also clashed over South Africa’s legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice and over Pretoria’s domestic policies on race and land ownership.

The South African government has repeatedly rejected claims of widespread anti-white persecution.

It argues that its policies are aimed at dismantling the enduring effects of apartheid and promoting greater racial and economic equality.

The latest action is expected to further complicate relations between two countries that have maintained diplomatic ties since the end of apartheid

Meanwhile South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola is due to travel to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly.