US ESCALATION: Pretoria puzzled by punitive US travel bans — ‘What more must we do?’
Even the US ambassador has acknowledged South Africa’s progress in meeting President Donald Trump’s demands, says President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special adviser, Alistair Ruiters, in response to a travel ban on unnamed South Africans announced by the US.
President Cyril Ramaphosa's special adviser, Alistair Ruiters, expressed puzzlement to South Africa's public media about the US's punitive travel bans targeting South Africans. The travel bans, announced by the US on September 15, 2026, were in response to several domestic demands made by the US in February 2025. Ruiters stated that even the US ambassador to South Africa had acknowledged South Africa's progress in meeting two of the five US demands.
However, Ruiters questioned the rationale behind the punitive action, as two out of the five demands had purportedly been addressed.
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