United States warns of new sanctions against South Africa

The U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell III, warned that the United States is looking at further sanctions against South Africa.

Last month, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new visa restriction policy targeting individuals in South Africa.

These individuals include those 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.

This followed the South African government’s decision to first ignore, and then dismiss, the United States’ five requests for better relations.

However, this is only the start. Bozell told Gabriel Makin from The Common Sense on Monday, 19 October 2026, that further actions will follow.

He explained that after nearly two years of negotiations, the South African government had rejected several key U.S. requests.

Because these diplomatic efforts were rebuffed, he cautioned that the next diplomatic or economic moves from Washington would not be favourable for South Africa.

“We’ve told the government that there were going to be next moves from the United States, and they’re not going to be good for South Africa,” he said.

“Some people may have thought I was bluffing, but I wasn’t. I am urging South Africa to come up with a holistic solution.”

“Come up with a proposal that tells the United States that South Africa wants a partnership with it.”

He previously said that the time for endless dialogue has run its course. “No more. America has just so much patience,” he said.

“We want strong and lasting relations with the South African government. It needs to show it wants the same. So far, it has shown it cares for neither.”

Bozell said the ball is now in South Africa’s court and that it needs to take action to restore relations with the United States.

What the United States wants from South Africa

The United States has outlined five preconditions for the normalisation of bilateral relations with South Africa.

Bozell reiterated these demands in his interview with The Common Sense, saying that the South African government has not moved on any of them.

The classification of farm attacks as a priority crime. Each farm attack should be investigated by the Hawks.

• A clear and unequivocal public condemnation by the ANC of “Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer”, whether used in song or any other context.

• No land expropriation without fair market compensation. Expropriation should only proceed after all legal processes have been fully exhausted.

• Exemption of USA entities from all Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements. Any race-based legislation that may constitute a non-tariff trade barrier should not apply to USA entities.

• Ending its association with Iran and enemies of the United States and becoming a non-aligned state, as it purports to be.

Despite the clear demands from the United States, the ANC and the government have doubled down on many of the controversial policies.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently said he would respond to these demands but did not provide a timeline.