United States’ message about South Africa: The government is destroying the economy through racial laws against Afrikaners

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the South African people are being failed by a government that is destroying its economy.

This, he said, is partly due to an obsessive pursuit of racial grievance against the Afrikaner minority.

“The South African government has consistently failed to adequately address rural crime, violent, and dehumanising rhetoric,” he said.

“There are also race-based discriminatory policies against Afrikaners and other minority populations.”

In response, Rubio announced a new visa restriction policy targeting foreign nationals who enact or enable policies that promote race-based discrimination.

The new policy is also targeting those who incite violence or enable land confiscation without compensation in South Africa.

“Those responsible for these injustices have no place in the United States,” Rubio said in a statement.

On 15 September 2026, the United States announced the new visa restriction policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

These restrictions target foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable:

• Uncompensated land seizures in South Africa.
• Race-based discrimination in South Africa.
• The incitement of imminent violence against members of minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa.

“The United States will not allow such behaviour to go unchecked,” Rubio said in a press statement.

“These actions directly undermine peace, economic stability, and the rule of law, and they are incompatible with the pillars of America’s foreign policy.”

“We once again strongly urge the South African government to quickly address these egregious actions.”