US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the restrictions apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for, or complicit in, the enactment or implementation of laws or policies that enable uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination or the incitement of imminent violence against minority ethnic or racial groups in South Africa.
“The South African government has not adequately addressed the previously laid out concerns,” Rubio said.
The policy does not amount to a blanket visa restriction on people travelling from South Africa. Instead, it targets foreign nationals whom the US identifies as falling within the specified categories. Rubio's announcement did not name any individuals.
The policy is being implemented under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the Secretary of State to deem a foreign national inadmissible where their entry could have potentially serious adverse foreign-policy consequences for the US. Certain family members may also be covered.
The visa restrictions come as relations between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated under the Trump administration.
The US has criticised South Africa's land reform policies and measures addressing racial inequality, as well as its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Pretoria has rejected claims that white South Africans face discrimination or persecution. President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for international efforts to counter what he describes as false claims of white persecution, while South Africa has argued that racial inequality and ideas of white racial superiority remain issues affecting the country's post-apartheid unity and sovereignty.
The latest visa policy follows other steps taken by the Trump administration affecting US-South Africa relations, including cutting aid to South Africa, expelling its ambassador and offering refuge to White Afrikaners. Trump has also made claims of White genocide in South Africa that Pretoria has rejected.
The South African embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Reuters.
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