US announces visa restrictions targeting THESE South Africans
· The South African
The United States has announced new visa restrictions targeting certain foreign nationals linked to South Africa, citing concerns over race-based discrimination, land reform and the incitement of violence against minority ethnic and racial groups.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the policy on Tuesday, 15 September, amid continuing tensions between Washington and Pretoria.
The restrictions are not a blanket visa ban on South African citizens. Instead, the US says they will target foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of imminent violence against minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa.
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. The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural…
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) September 15, 2026
Rubio targets BEE and expropriation policies
Rubio said the move forms part of US President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14204, titled Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa.
He said Washington remained “gravely concerned” about what it described as racially motivated crime and government-sponsored discrimination against Afrikaners and other minority populations.
The US specifically highlighted:
- Race-based discriminatory legislation;
- Threats of land expropriation without compensation; and
- The incitement of racial violence through what it described as dehumanising chants and slogans.
The announcement comes after months of criticism from Washington over South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policies and the country’s Expropriation Act.
The US has argued that some of these policies disadvantage minority groups and create concerns for American businesses operating in South Africa.
The new restrictions are being imposed under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The provision allows the Secretary of State to designate foreign nationals as inadmissible where their entry could have potentially serious adverse consequences for US foreign policy.
Certain family members of individuals covered by the restrictions may also be affected.
No individuals were named when Rubio announced the policy.
The US ‘five asks’
The latest announcement follows a series of demands Washington has raised with Pretoria over the past year.
US Ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell said in March that Washington had presented South Africa with what he called a list of “five asks” and warned that the US was running out of patience over the lack of a response.
The issues raised included concerns over the Expropriation Act and B-BBEE, the “Kill the Boer” chant, violence affecting farming communities and South Africa’s foreign-policy alignment.
More recently, reports have indicated that the US has also sought clarity from Pretoria on South Africa’s relationships with countries such as Iran.
South African Ambassador to the US Roelf Meyer has said addressing the outstanding issues is important to improving trade relations between the two countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to respond to Trump’s demands, with the issue forming part of the wider diplomatic and trade relationship between the two countries.
Visa restrictions follow proposed US legislation
The latest move also comes after US lawmakers introduced legislation in 2025 calling for a review of relations with South Africa.
House Bill H.R.2633, the U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025, was introduced in April 2025 by Representative Ronny Jackson. The bill proposed a comprehensive review of the bilateral relationship and called for the identification of South African government officials and ANC leaders who could be eligible for sanctions.
A companion Senate bill, S.2752, was introduced by Senator John Kennedy in September 2025. It also sought a full review of US-South Africa relations. The bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has not become law.
The proposed legislation therefore differs from the latest visa policy, which does not limit its wording to government officials or ANC leaders.
Instead, the new policy refers more broadly to foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of the policies identified by Washington.
South Africa rejects discrimination claims
The announcement has renewed debate over race, inequality and land reform in South Africa.
Pretoria has previously rejected claims that white South Africans are being persecuted or discriminated against, arguing that the country’s policies are intended to address the legacy of apartheid and racial inequality.
South African officials have also defended B-BBEE as a mechanism for addressing structural economic disparities created by the country’s history.
The Congressional Research Service has noted that South Africa’s Expropriation Act allows expropriation without compensation only in limited circumstances, while otherwise providing for “just and equitable” compensation. South African officials have argued that the legislation is intended to support land reform and address inequalities rooted in apartheid.
The US government disputes aspects of Pretoria’s approach and has continued to press South Africa to change policies it regards as discriminatory.
For now, Washington has not disclosed how many South Africans or other foreign nationals could ultimately be affected by the new visa restrictions.
The practical impact will depend on which individuals are identified under the policy and how the US State Department applies the new restrictions.
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