Pretoria “disappointed” in “flawed” US human rights report on South Africa

The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation has expressed “profound disappointment” with a recent report on human rights in South Africa published by the United States’ (US) State Department.

An executive summary of the 2024 report, published on the State Department’s website on 12 August, said that human rights in South Africa “significantly worsened during the year.”

“With the signing of the Expropriation Bill… South Africa took a substantially worrying step towards land expropriation of Afrikaners and further abuses against racial minorities in the country.”

“Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; arbitrary arrest or detention; and the repression of racial minorities.”

“The government did not take credible steps to investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed human rights abuses,” added the US State Department.

This includes “inflammatory racial rhetoric against Afrikaners and other racial minorities, or violence against racial minorities.”

South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) called it an “inaccurate and deeply flawed account.”

Dirco called it “ironic” coming “from a nation that has exited the UN Human Rights Council.”

Relations between South Africa and the US have been tense since Trump’s January return to the White House, marked by his refuted claims of a “White farmer genocide” and criticism of South Africa’s ties with Russia and Iran.

On February 8, 2025, US diplomatic spokeswoman Tammy Bruce announced that the United States was prepared to accept “persecuted South African farmers” as refugees.

In response, President Cyril Ramaphosa rejected claims that his government intended to “confiscate land,” while legal experts said the new land law simply clarifies the framework for expropriations.

South Africa’s foreign ministry condemned the US reaction to the Expropriation Act as a “campaign of misinformation” and “propaganda.”

“It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America,” the ministry said.

Earlier this month, the US imposed a 30% tariff on South African imports, placing it among just four countries facing significantly higher duties, according to Oxford Economics.

Ironic coming from the US, says Dirco

In a statement late on 12 August, Dirco said that South Africa has to have a transparent system with freely available information from law enforcement and Chapter 9 institutions that protect human rights.

“It is ironic that a report from a nation that has exited the UN Human Rights Council and therefore no longer sees itself accountable in a multilateral peer review system would seek to produce one-sided, fact-free reports without any due process or engagement,” said Dirco.

“This is particularly striking given the significant and documented concerns about human rights within the United States, including the treatment of refugees and breaches in due process by its own agencies, such as ICE.”

“A fundamental distortion of the facts”

In a statement late on 12 August, Dirco said that the reports “reliance on a-contextual information and discredited accounts is highly concerning.”

This includes portraying an incident involving farm workers’ deaths as an extrajudicial killing despite it being before the courts.

It said such framing distorts facts and ignores ongoing investigations into police conduct.

South Africa, Dirco said, has systems and constitutional institutions to protect human rights.

It said it will release documents this week to provide a fuller picture, citing SA Human Rights Commission and UN reports, as well as reputable media coverage, to counter the distortions.

“We remain open to addressing these distortions through the diplomatic channels.”