South Africa rejects US visa restrictions over race policies

The United States has imposed travel bans on officials it alleges are responsible for discrimination against whites and other minority groups in South Africa, according to the Trump administration. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that he would revoke U.S. visas or reject visa applications from foreign nationals involved in enacting or enforcing laws and policies that allow for land seizures without compensation, race-based discrimination, and incitement of violence against minority groups.

South Africa has rejected these allegations as baseless, attributing them to misinformation since the U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office. The U.S. claims that South Africa's land expropriation law, affirmative action policies, and violent crimes against white farmers demonstrate a larger anti-white stance. Approximately 4.5 million whites, including Afrikaners descended from Dutch and French colonial settlers, live in South Africa's 62 million population.

The U.S. has previously sanctioned South Africa over its treatment of whites and other minorities, including barring officials from G20 meetings and phasing out aid for South Africa's HIV treatment program.