WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has announced a new visa-restriction policy aimed at certain South African nationals, escalating a dispute over land reform, racial-equity policies and the treatment of the country’s white minority.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the policy Tuesday, Sept. 15. He said it would apply to people the United States considers responsible for, or complicit in, laws and policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or incitement of imminent violence against racial or ethnic minorities.
The State Department did not publicly identify any individuals affected by the restrictions. Visa records are generally confidential, so the names of people denied entry may not be disclosed.
South Africa’s government has repeatedly rejected Washington’s claims that white citizens face systematic persecution. President Cyril Ramaphosa has called allegations of a “white genocide” false and has urged international leaders to challenge misinformation about the country.
South African officials say the nation’s land-reform and affirmative-action programs are intended to address economic and property inequalities created by apartheid and colonial rule. More than three decades after apartheid ended, wealth and land ownership remain sharply unequal.
The new restrictions deepen a broader diplomatic rupture between Washington and Pretoria. President Donald Trump’s administration has cut aid, created a refugee pathway for white Afrikaners and criticized South Africa’s land policies. The United States has also objected to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Supporters of South Africa’s racial-equity measures argue that treating corrective policies as anti-white discrimination ignores the enduring effects of apartheid, which legally dispossessed and excluded the country’s Black majority. Critics of the policies contend that race-based rules can unfairly disadvantage individuals and discourage investment.
According to Reuters, Rubio said the South African government had not adequately addressed concerns previously raised by Washington. The South African Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment following the announcement.
The policy is significant beyond the immediate travel limits. It places programs designed to repair apartheid-era inequities at the center of U.S. foreign policy and adds new strain to relations between the United States and one of Africa’s largest economies.
Sources: Reuters, Sept. 15, 2026; Associated Press, Sept. 16, 2026.
