Rubio Assails <a href="https://absafricatv.com/pat-cummins-warns-australia-could-face-hostility-on-first-south-africa-test-tour-since-sandpaper-gate/” title=”Pat Cummins warns Australia could face 'hostility' on first South Africa Test tour since Sandpaper Gate”>South Africa With Visa Restrictions on Bias Claims | Mint
Rubio Assails South Africa With Visa Restrictions on Bias Claims
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a visa restriction policy to punish South Africans who he claimed have engaged in “government-sponsored discrimination” against Afrikaners and other minority groups.
(Bloomberg) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a visa restriction policy to punish South Africans who he claimed have engaged in “government-sponsored discrimination” against Afrikaners and other minority groups.
Rubio said in a statement on Tuesday evening that the restrictions would single out those responsible for “race-based discriminatory legislation, threats of land expropriation without compensation, and incitement of racial violence through dehumanizing chants and slogans.”
The statement did not say if any South African officials were being penalized, nor name anyone who might be.
Rubio’s statement echoed longstanding accusations by conservatives, including US President Donald Trump, that South Africa discriminates against the White Afrikaner minority who ruled the country under a system of White supremacy known as Apartheid. Trump has been particularly critical of a 2025 law, which Rubio also cited, that would make it easier for the South African government to expropriate private property, in some narrow cases without compensation.
“We once again strongly urge the South African government to quickly address these egregious actions,” Rubio added in the statement.
After his return to office last year, Trump offered Afrikaners refugee status and falsely accused the government in Pretoria of subjecting White farmers to a genocide. He issued an executive order suspending assistance to the country. The US expelled Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool after he he said Trump supporters were part of a “supremacist movement.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said his government’s goals and policies intended to improve the economic lot of the Black majority in the country have been misconstrued.
Ramaphosa earlier this year appointed veteran political Roelf Meyer, a White Afrikaner who was key to the negotiations that transitioned South Africa out of its apartheid era and later served in Nelson Mandela’s cabinet, as US ambassador with a view to repairing ties.
Earlier: South Africa Envoy to US Will Prioritize Mending Ties With Trump
The South African Embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached on Tuesday evening. A call to the country’s consulate in New York was not immediately returned.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Catch all the Business News,Politics news,Breaking NewsEvents andLatest News Updates on Live Mint. Download TheMint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
HomePoliticsRubio Assails South Africa With Visa Restrictions on Bias Claims
More
